NORCROSS -- For one quarter Dawson County led Class AA No. 2 Greater Atlanta Christian 13-11 in the first round of the state playoffs Friday night.<br />
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The Tigers would have little to celebrate the rest of the way, however, as the Spartans used a 25-13 second quarter to grab the lead en route to an 82-58 win.<br />
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GAC (27-3) will play host to Coosa Tuesday in the second round.<br />
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Even with the loss the Tigers won 17 of their last 20 games finish 20-9 on the season.<br />
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Dawson County coach Thad Burgess said the Spartans' depth was just too much in the second half.<br />
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"They play about 14 players and we play mainly five," Burgess said. "They just wore us down eventually. But we're rpoud of the way we finished the season and we had a lead on them for a while in the first half."<br />
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GAC used its second quarter run to take a 36-26 halftime lead. the Tigers could've been closer at halftime but they missed a 3-pointer with four seconds left and then watched as GAC hit a driving two-pointer at the buzzer.<br />
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"That was a big momentum swing," Burgess said. We never really recovered after that."<br />
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Senior Zach Cook led Dawson County with 13 points in final game for the Tigers. Nick Fiorentino had 12 points in his final game for Dawson County while fellow seniors Robert O'Quinn and Lee Little each had 10 points in the final games.<br />
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Senior Chase Hudson had 22 points to lead five GAC players in double figures.