Coach Thad Burgess' varsity boys basketball team notched its first Region 8A-AA win of the season Friday against Fannin County. The Tigers outscored the visiting Rebels 55-17 in front of a huge crowd in Dawsonville.

The Tigers placed three players in double figures, led by Jackson Putnam with a game-high 11 points. Jonathan Sanderson and Tyler Dominy scored 10 points apiece in the 38-point win.

"It was really good Friday night to play our best game of the year against Fannin County," Burgess said.

Dawson's matchup 3-2 zone defense confused the Rebels all evening. Fannin scored only 4 first half points as the Tigers opened up a commanding 34-4 halftime lead.

Burgess was able to get some much needed playing time in for his reserves in the second half as he cleared the Tigers' bench.

"We showed tremendous effort on the boards and played with a lot of intensity. The team came out and did not allow Fannin anything easy and held them to only 4 points in the first half. It was really good to give some players some playing time and they also played with the same intensity," Burgess said.

The Tigers out rebounded Fannin by a huge 35-10 margin.

Tigers scorers: Putnam - 11 points, Sanderson - 10 points, Dominy - 10 points, Will Anglin - 3 points, Bruce Clark - 6 points, Lucas Pain - 9 points, Gunnar Armstrong - 3 points and Camron Chester - 3 points.

Will Patterson led Fannin in scoring with 8 points.

The Tigers traveled to play a very talented and athletic East Hall team Jan. 10.

The Vikings' Hayden Chapman had a big game for East Hall. He connected on six, 3-pointers for 19 points as the Vikings came away with a 66-48 win.

Chapman hit three of his 3-pointers in the first quarter to open up an 18-11 lead.

The Vikings pressure seemed to bother the Tigers and led to several turnovers. East Hall built a 36-23 halftime lead over Dawson.

East Hall did not let up in the second half. A couple more 3-pointers led to a 14-2 run in the first three minutes of the quarter to give the Vikings a 50-25 advantage.

Dawson's offense just couldn't sustain any consistency and scored 9 points in the third quarter as East Hall led 53-32.

"We had a difficult time with the pressure and athleticism from East Hall," Burgess said.

Nine different Tigers scored but none in double figures. Chester led Dawson County in scoring with 8 points.

Tigers scorers: Chester - 8 points; Pain - 7 points, Clark - 7 points, Sanderson - 6 points, Dominy - 6 points, Anglin - 5 points, Jackson Putnam - 4 points, Mitchell Putnam - 3 points and Armstrong - 2 points.

"Our scoring has really been spread out over the last several games, which is allowing us some depth as we continue in region play. The Fannin game was really good for us as we have a week off before a road trip Friday at Union. The Fannin win brought back some needed confidence," Burgess said.

The Tigers are currently 14-4 overall and 1-2 in Region 8A-AA action.

The team will be back in action at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Union County.

The Tigers will then play at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17, when the team will travel to Banks County.