CLEVELAND, Ga. — Despite a disappointing loss to No. 3 Pickens on Tuesday, the fifth-ranked White County girls did not let that carry over into another huge Region 7-3A showdown with No. 6 Dawson County on Friday.
The Lady Warriors hit 9 3-pointers and forced 17 Dawson County turnovers to spark a 53-46 win at home.
Balance was a key for the Lady Warriors. Emma Lightsey knocked down five 3-pointers as part of her 20 points to pace White County. Five different players hit treys.
The win moved White County (15-3, 3-2 Region 7-3A) into a tie for third place with the Lady Tigers (10-7, 3-2 Region 7-3A).
“Every game in this region is huge,” Lady Warriors coach Quinta Moss said. “We just try to make sure the girls are ready every time out.”
White County trailed just once, at 2-0, on an Eva Bishop basket to open the game. The Lady Warriors began firing from there. Lightsey, Kylie Watkins, and Zoe Burkett each hit 3-pointers, with Burkett’s second one capping a 17-4 spurt for a 19-6 lead.
But Dawson County did not go away. Kindra Coker hit a 3-pointer near the end of the first quarter that would spark the Lady Tigers to open the second.
After falling behind 25-11 on an Anijah Moss 3-pointer, Abby Slaton capped a 10-0 run with a long 3-pointer, and Ava Roberson hit a basket to pull the Lady Tigers within 30-26 at the break.
A Bishop free throw early in the third quarter cut the lead to 30-27, but that would be as close as Dawson County would get. For the game, the Lady Tigers hit just 12-of-22 free throws, missing five with several chances to cut further into the lead when White County hit just one field goal over a five-minute stretch.
Moss praised his defense, which was able to eventually help build a 43-33 lead late in the third.
“We’ve been playing pretty well, but we still haven’t played to the level I think we can get to,” he said. “We did some good things out there, but we made some mistakes as well. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing.”
The Lady Tigers made one final push, getting to 46-37 on a basket by Slaton. But a 3-pointer by Lightsey and two free throws from Aaliyah Anderson pushed the lead back to 51-37.
Dawson County closed out the game with a 7-0 run, but the comeback ran out of time.
Bishop finished with 9 points, and Anna Ayers had 7, all free throws, for the Lady Tigers.
Watkins had 8 points and Burkett 6 points for White County.
Both teams face more key region games on Tuesday. Dawson County plays host to Wesleyan, while White County travels to Lumpkin County.
