CLEVELAND — You couldn’t tell that the Lumpkin County girls hadn’t played in a week and just once since the New Year.
The Class 3A third-ranked Lady Indians never trailed and turned 22 turnovers into 17 points en route to a stunning 69-43 win over fourth-ranked White County Tuesday night on the road.
“I don’t think until tonight we’ve seen the real Lumpkin team. I think what people saw tonight is us,” Lumpkin County coach David Dowse said. “Coming out of a very tough tournament in Tennessee (over the Christmas break), we realized we just needed to be better. The girls challenged themselves.”
The win moved the Lady Indians (15-3, 5-1 Region 7-3A) into a three-way tie with the Lady Warriors (15-4, 5-1 Region 7-3A) and Wesleyan (15-2, 5-1 Region 7-3A) for first place. Lumpkin and White will meet again on Feb. 10 in Dahlonega to close out the regular season.
Both teams came into this one among the classification leaders in defense. Lumpkin’s high-powered offense, however, was able to use the turnovers and fastbreak opportunities for a pair of big first-half runs to take control.
Lumpkin County exploded for a 12-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Averie Jones at the buzzer, for a 23-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. White County opened the second quarter with a Maci Shelnut trey, but the Lady Indians got three turnovers for 6 points as part of a 13-0 spurt to push the lead to 36-13 with 5:16 to go in the half.
White County coach Jarvis Davenport said they picked a bad time not to be at the top of their game. The 69 points allowed was a season-high for a Lady Warriors team that was giving up just 40.7 points/per game until Tuesday.
“Lumpkin played well and had a lot to do with how the score ended up,” Davenport said. “They were more physical, and we were way too passive. We told the girls you have to bring your best every game in this region.”
After falling behind 44-25 on a pair of Mary Mullinax baskets, White County went on an 11-2 run, with Naomi Roberts scoring 7 points and Kylie Watkins 4, to close within 46-36 midway through the third quarter. But 3-pointers by Pierce and Ciera Brooks and two free throws from Mullinax pushed the lead back to 54-36 to end the period. The Lady Warriors did not recover a second time.
Pierce finished with 23 points, 12 in the second half, to pace Lumpkin County. Mullinax scored 18 points and Brooks and Jones each had 12 for the Lady Indians.
“Lexi (Pierce) is just now starting to get back to her old self after her injury,” Dowse said.
White County was led by Roberts, who scored all 11 of her points in the second half. Aaliyah Anderson and Watkins each had 6, and Beckman finished with 5, all in the opening quarter.
WHITE COUNTY BOYS 76,
LUMPKIN COUNTY 45
Jadon Yeh poured in a career-high 41 points for the 10th-ranked Warriors, who remained the only unbeaten team in Region 7-3A with a blowout win at home on Tuesday.
White County (12-7, 6-0 Region 7-3A) used a 13-3 run to end the first quarter to take control and then extended its lead in every quarter to push their season-high win streak to five straight.
After an 8-0 run to open the game for White County, the Indians’ Cal Faulkner capped a quick 5-0 run with a three-point play to get within 8-5. But the Warriors exploded for their first run and then used a 21-7 spurt in the second for a 46-17 lead.
Yeh had 27 in the first half, and Noah Futch had all 12 points in the first quarter for White County. The Warriors led 50-23 at the break and took a 66-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Indians (4-15, 1-5 Region 7-3A) were paced by Faulkner’s 20 points. Hunter Cooper had 10 and Preston Fox 7 for Lumpkin County.
