The Dawson County 9-10 girls' basketball team won the GRPA District 7 Basketball Championship over the weekend to earn a spot in the state tournament.
A win over Union County on Feb. 25 clinched the berth.
Jacob Tinsley, Kendy Bennett and Jarrett Talley coach the team.
The team had to win three tough games to clinch the district championship.
"The girls came out on Friday night and made a statement by beating Commerce 29-6. The girls played great defense and our shots were falling," Tinsley said.
In the game against Commerce; Anna Lowe recorded 12 points, followed by Chloe Bennett with 7 points, Frankie Muldoon with 4 points, Rachel Swafford with 3 points, Isabella Henson had 2 points and Isabella Tinsley contributed 1 point.
In the second game of the tournament, the team was pitted against longtime rival Rabun County.
The girls took a commanding 10 point lead early only to see Rabun chip away at the deficit.
With just under 3 minutes left in the game, Rabun took a 4 point lead and momentum shifted in their favor.
Fortunately, Dawson answered with some tough free throws to pull it out down the stretch and come away with the 26-24 win.
In the Rabun game, Dawson scorers were: Muldoon-10 points, Lowe-8 points, Bennett-6 points and Tinsley-2 points.
The championship game, held on Saturday afternoon, was against another longstanding rival in Union County.
"It was another nail biter. We put up enough points to win, but it wasn't our best performance of the tournament. We had trouble getting in rhythm and putting this one away," Tinsley said.
Muldoon pitched in 7 points for her team, and Fallan Lacey added 5 points to round out the scoring for Dawson in the 12-10 championship win.
"This is one great group of girls and they have worked very hard up to this point. We will spend this week fine tuning a few things in hopes of bringing home another state championship for Dawson County girls' basketball," Tinsley said.
Team members are: Lacey, Henson, Swafford, Avery Young, Bennett, Mattie Grant, Tinsley, Lowe, Madison Anglin and Muldoon.
The team will play at 6 p.m. Friday night in Fannin County in the first round of the state tournament.