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DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
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Lady Tigers reign at Tiger Tipoff Classic
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County High
School girls’ varsity basketball
team moved to 3-0 on the sea
son and claimed first place in
the Tiger Tipoff Classic with
48-33 victory over the South
Forsyth War Eagles on Nov. 20.
Led by Sophie Rosin, the
South Forsyth High School War
Eagles were successful in slow
ing the pace of the game early
and outscored the Tigers 12-9
in the first period.
The second period proved to
be the difference as the Lady
Tigers took control of the game
behind strong defensive perfor
mances from junior Marlie
Townley and senior Anna
Lowe, who dominated the lane
and forced multiple turnovers.
Senior Kaylee Sticker led the
way on offense with 10 of her
24 points on night to give the
Tigers a commanding 31-14
lead at the half.
South Forsyth managed to
control the pace of the game
during the second half and out-
scored the Lady Tigers in both
the third and fourth period, but
Dawson County put up just
enough points to hold onto
their lead and secure the win.
“South came out strong and
took the lead after one quarter,”
said Head Coach Steve Sweat.
“We played some really good
defense in the second half and
were able to finish with a win.”
To get to the final round, the
Lady Tigers had to get past the
Chestatee High School War
Eagles in the first game of the
tournament on Nov. 19.
Featuring a fast-break style
offense the Chestatee team put
Dawson County to the test from
the opening tip-off as they took
an early lead in the first period
and forced the Lady Tigers to
play from behind as they were
out-scored on the half and
trailed 31-25 heading into the
third period.
See Lady 14B
Austin Steele DCN Regional Staff
Jim O'Dell, the high performance coach for the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club, poses for a portrait Sept. 6. O'Dell
has been a big part in building a prominent program at Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club since the early 2000s, and in
November he was honored with a dragon boat donated in his name to LCKC.
Dragon boat from championship
donated to coach, organizer O’Dell
Scott Rogers DCN Regional Staff
The ICF Dragon Boat World Championships came to Lake Lanier in
September, the first time it's ever been held in the United States.The com
petition included more than 1,000 athletes from a dozen countries.
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Dawson County High School senior
Jasper Gibson goes over two
defenders for a shot in the Tiger
Tipoff Classic on Nov. 19.
Tigers take
second in
Tiger Tipoff
Classic
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County High School
varsity boys’ basketball team finished
runners-up in last week’s Tiger Tipoff
Classic tournament at the high school
after picking up a win in the opening
round over Landmark Christian
Academy.
The team sailed past the War Eagles
with a 72-49 win on Nov. 19 and
moved into the winner’s bracket to face
the Cumberland Christian Academy
Patriots on Nov. 20, where they lost in
the championship game, 75- 64.
“(We had) way too many unforced
turnovers,” said Head Coach Chad
Pittman. “A lot of self-inflicted
wounds.”
The game opened as an even battle
with both teams playing fast and
aggressive basketball. After the first
period, the score was tied at 21.
During the second it appeared that the
Tigers would pull away as seniors Luke
Chism and Jasper Gibson began to find
success on the outside. It was the only
period when Dawson would outscore
Cumberland and the Tigers took a
38-31 lead into half-time.
Chism would lead the Tigers in scor
ing with 25 points on the night.
See Tigers 12B
By Layne Sabila
DCN Regional Staff
When Team USA won the Nations
Cup at the 2018 ICF World Dragon
Boat Championships back in
September, local coach Jim O’Dell was
ecstatic.
After all, he had been a key part in
organizing the event that brought in
teams from 14 countries to the Lake
Lanier Olympic Venue and one of the
people behind training the U.S. athletes.
And following the event, at a volunteer
appreciation dinner, Gainesville-Hall
‘96 presented O’Dell with a dragon
boat of his own.
“It’s so hard to put it into words,
because when you volunteer to do stuff
like that, you do it without regard for
accolades, without regard for ‘atta
boys,”’ said O’Dell, who served as the
regional coach for the U.S. team. “You
do it because of a passion. And to have
something like that ... it means so
much. And now I have another tool at
the club to do more training in; it’s just
amazing.”
Local paddlers who train with O’Dell
made a world of difference at the cham
pionships earlier this year: Almost 30
members of Gainesville’s Lanier Canoe
and Kayak Club qualified for Team
U.S.A. during the world champion
ships. Of those, 15 were from
Gainesville.
And to mark the coach’s impact on
the event and the team, his name print
ed on the side: “Coach Jim O’Dell.”
He wasn’t overly concerned about the
name on the side of the boat or that it
was donated in his honor, though.
O’Dell said he doesn’t like talking
about himself that much.
He’s grateful and appreciative for
what the donation means, but he was
just happy to have another dragon boat
for the paddlers to practice in.
The boat came as a “total surprise” to
O’Dell. He said it left him “speechless for
a few seconds” when it was presented to
See Boat 14B
Player of the Week!
Marlie Townley
DCHS junior Marlie Townley led the Lady Tigers
basketball team in scoring with 17points during
game one of the Tiger Tipoff Classic on Nov 19. In
addition to her eightfield goals, Townley racked
up double-digit rebounds and assists and drove
her team into the championship round of the
tournament, where she continued to dominate
the lane with another double-digit performance.
Townley’s ability to take away and distribute the
ball was critical to the Lady Tigers winning the
two-day tournament.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Luke Chism
DCHS Senior Luke Chism put on an
incredible performance over the two games
of the Tiger Tipoff Classic last week. During
the first round on Nov. 19, Chism accounted
for 33 percent of the offense by putting up 24
of the teams 72 points to lead the Tigers. In
the championship game against Cumberland
Christian Academy on Nov. 20, Chism
put it all on the line with another fantastic
performance scoring 25 points, 10 rebounds,
and 5 assists.
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