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SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
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Tigers claim region championship
With win over GAC, boys win title for first time since 2012
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County High
School boys’ varsity basketball
team hoisted the Region 7-AAA
championship trophy Feb. 9 after
defeating Greater Atlanta
Christian 86-76 in the final round
of the regional tournament.
Both teams featured high-pow
ered offenses during the tourna
ment as second-seeded Dawson
County defeated Fannin County
81-38 and Lumpkin County
86-53 in the first two rounds,
while top-seeded GAC rode a
first-round bye and a 99-48 sec
ond-round thrashing of East Hall
into the final game.
The Spartans handed the
Tigers their only two regional
losses during the regular season,
and Head Coach Chad Pittman
pored over the footage of those
games to prepare his team for a
third matchup with the defending
regional and state champions at
North Hall High School.
“I looked back at the film of
those two games and noticed a
lull on our part in the third quar
ter,” Pittman said. “That’s some
thing we need to work on. A lull
of four or five minutes against a
team like that and you’re going
to lose.”
The first half opened with the
ball being moved quickly up and
down the court by both teams as
they rapidly transitioned from one
end to the other, trading buckets
along the way. A series of turn
overs by the Tigers allowed GAC
to take a 20-15 lead by the end of
the first period.
See Boys 12B
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Sophomore Mason Barnes pushes through two defend
ers on his way to the net in the first round of the Region
7-AAA tournament Feb. 7.
Daytona 500 Speedweek announces
impending arrival of NASCAR
Bob Christian Dawson County News
The moveable type sign of Dawsonville's Pool Room displays a countdown to the Daytona 500.
Racing fans gathered at Pool Room to watch Chase Elliott compete for pole
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
Unlike most restaurants, the sign out
side of the Pool Room in downtown
Dawsonville doesn’t display the daily
specials. Instead, this sign, perched above
an antique racecar, has a running count
down to the beginning of the 2019
Daytona 500, which takes place on Feb.
17.
The Pool Room has long been the cen
tral hub for Dawsonville racing fans and
a small handful dropped by the diner on
Sunday, Feb. 171, to eat lunch and watch
Chase Elliott as he attempted to win the
pole for the third time in four years.
After Elliott’s three-win season last
year, fans are excited about the qualifying
events leading up to the race in a way that
they haven’t been in recent years.
“I thought he was pretty good last year.
After he got that first win, he was good,
and he got better,” NASCAR fan Tim
Gilleland said. “This year, I think he’s
going to be great.”
As locals moved in and out for lunch,
each would inevitably ask for an update
on Elliott’s progress and manager
Gordon Pirkle Jr. would step away from
the grill, check one of the three TV’s (all
tuned to the race), and quickly answer the
question.
The big topic of the day was the acci
dent that Elliott was involved in during
Saturday’s practice session for The
Advanced Auto Parts Clash, a 75-lap
showcase race that features a limited field
of 20 drivers.
“It was his fault, he admitted that,”
Pirkle Jr. said. “But he went around and
apologized to everyone involved and you
have to respect that.”
The cafe quieted down as Elliott’s No.
9 Napa car took to the track for his two
laps, and when he finished in first place
after his run of 193.92 mph, the initial
assessment from the gathered fans was
that the time would not stand. The crowd
was proven correct when Elliott was
bumped out of first by the very next driv
er and went on to finish the day with the
fourth fastest time.
Daytona is unique in NASCAR in that
the qualifying event only places the pole
position and the driver next to him. All
other drivers must compete in the Gander
RV duels, a pair of 150-mile, 60-lap races
used to seed the field of the Daytona 500.
The winner of each duel starts on the sec
ond row with the remaining drivers posi
tioned based on where they finished in
each race.
“Now he just has to do what he did last
year and win the duel.” Pirkle Jr. said.
As he continued to talk, it became
obvious how proud Pirkle Jr. was of the
Pool Room’s connection to the history of
racing in general, and more specifically,
to the history of racing in Dawsonville,
which he emphasized when he pointed
out the newest addition to the restaurant’s
vast collection of memorabilia.
“That tire on the end is from the car
See Daytona 15B
Lady Tigers
place 3rd in
Region 7-AAA
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County High School girls’
varsity basketball team wrapped up the
three-day Region 7-AAA tournament with
a thrilling 77-61 victory over the Cherokee
Bluff Bears on Feb. 9 to secure a third-
place finish in the region and regain
momentum as the team heads to the GHSA
state playoffs on Feb. 15.
Dawson County found themselves in the
consolation game after fighting off a tough,
first-round challenge from Fannin County
with a final score of 64-61 on Feb. 6.
In a post-game ceremony, senior Kaylee
Sticker, who scored 23 points in the game,
See Girls | 5B
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Lady Tigers junior Sophia D'Oliveira
passes the ball to sophomore Maddie
Anglin against the Lady Rebels in the
opening round of the Region 7-AAA
tournament Feb. 6.
4 Tigers take next step
on National Signing Day
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County High School seniors and
football program stars Zac Baloga, Logan
Barnes, SeVaughn Clark and Ryan Glass
celebrated National Signing Day by for
mally committing to play at the college
level during a brief ceremony Feb. 6.
The four represented the largest group of
Tigers to sign on National Signing Day
from the Dawson County football program
in school history. A large number of stu
dents, family and friends gathered at the
See Signing 14B
Player of the Week!
Jasper Gibson
Junior Jasper Gibson saved his explosiveness
for the moment it mattered when he lit up the
scoreboard against Greater Atlanta Christian
to lead the Dawson County Tigers to their first
Region 7-AAA championship in seven years
on Feb. 9. Gibson personally led his team from
behind as he posted 22 points in the third quarter
alone, on his way to an incredible 42 points in
the contest, to defeat the defending regional and
state champions by a final score of 86-76.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kaylee Sticker
Senior Kaylee Sticker experienced a career
week as she led the Lady Tigers in scoring
over all three games of the Region 7-AAA
tournament, including a season high 35 points
in the consolation game to secure the team a
third-place finish in the region and a berth in
the state playoffs. Sticker also crossed 1,500
points in her career to become the Lady Tigers’
second highest all-time scorer and wrapped up
the week by being named the Region 7-AAA
Player of the Year.
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