DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — The Dawson County girls have been about as consistent winners as any program in Northeast Georgia over the past decade. The Lady Tigers have made the postseason all but one year (2021) in that span, with a state runner-up finish in 2013 (Class 3A) and three more trips to the quarterfinals.
But it has been a roller coaster of a season so far for first-year head coach Will Anglin. The Lady Tigers opened the season 5-2 then later dropped five straight to fall to 9-9, including Region 7-3A losses to top five teams Lumpkin County, White County, and Wesleyan.
“We’ve been up and down but a lot of that is because we’ve been battling injuries,” Anglin said. “We’ve only had about 5 practices all season with a full roster.”
Included in those injuries was a key one to junior point guard Kendra Coker. The five-game losing streak came with her sitting on the bench. Coker returned last week and the Lady Tigers (12-9, 4-4 Region 7-3A) are riding a three-game win streak since.
Juniors Abby Samples-Slaton (10 points/game) and Morgan Chester (8 ppg) and senior Kirklyn Porter (7.5 ppg) all have missed time this season. Sophomore Eva Bishop has had a breakout season averaging 7 ppg and 8.8 rebounds/game on the season.
“Having Kendra back has been a big plus,” Anglin said. “We probably gave up 60 points on turnovers in losses to Wesleyan and White County. We’ve been much better since she’s been back.
“Eva has been a big addition and really improved her game. Abby has stepped up this year. When we have all five of them, we feel we can play with anyone.”
Dawson County sits in fifth-place in the middle of the pack in the standings but opens its most crucial, and challenging, stretch of the season Thursday night on the road against No. 8 Pickens (15-4, 4-3 Region 7-3A).
The Lady Tigers follow that with a season-ending gauntlet against No. 2 Lumpkin County (at home), No. 4 White County (on the road), and then No. 3 Wesleyan (at home) to close out the regular season.
Anglin said they are looking to show the rest of the region they will not go quietly. They are fully healthy for one of the few times this season and are coming off an impressive 54-27 rout of Gilmer on Tuesday.
“The Gilmer game was the best we’ve played all season but also one of the few games we’ve had everyone available,” Anglin said. “I’ve seen things start to click with the girls that we felt were there but just didn’t have everyone at the same time.
“I don’t think we can get to first place at this point but finishing third, and maybe second with some help, would be huge with how difficult the region tournament is going to be.”
Pickens, which sits in fourth place in the standings, will be a huge road challenge. The Lady Tigers can leap-frog into fourth with a win. But the Dragonettes are 7-1 at home this season.
“That’s a ridiculous stretch of games,” Anglin admitted. “It’s going to be tough for sure. But we also are looking at this as a chance to show what we can do.
“Our goal going into this (stretch) is to get a few (wins). The girls are playing very confident right now so we’re excited to get this going.”
