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DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
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Season ends for DCHS soccer teams
By:Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
For the Dawson County High
School boys and girls soccer
teams, the past season saw indi
vidual and collective growth.
The season came to its conclu
sion on Friday, April 1, when
Dawson County traveled to
play Cherokee Bluff in the reg
ular season finale.
Coming into Friday’s match
es, the boys and girls teams car
ried season storylines that drew
both similarities and contrasts.
While the boys team headed
into the match with an opportu
nity to clinch the No. 4 seed in
Region 7-AAA and a trip to the
state playoffs, the girls team
was looking for one last posi
tive performance to end the
season as they finished sixth in
the region.
Despite the difference in
position, the two teams shared
a similar road to improvement
from the previous season.
During the 2021 season, both
teams struggled and had only
three wins combined. But this
season, strong leadership and
team chemistry led to the boys
team winning seven games and
the girls team winning four.
Led by vocal leaders Kenna
LeBaron and Erick Sanchez,
the two sides found themselves
in better shape at the end of the
season and have a foundation to
build upon for the future.
While the girls team would
fall to region champions
Cherokee Bluff 10-0 and the
boys team lost 5-0, both coach
es reflected on the progress
made during the season.
“We had great senior leader
ship all year,” girls team head
coach Chess Hamby said. “We
were hoping to get in the play
offs but that didn’t happen.
Overall, we improved in the
final region standings, so we
were happy with that.”
Hamby also mentioned that
next year’s leaders would come
from both experienced players
and some of the younger
See Soccer|3B
Rio White Dawson County News
Kenna LeBaron defends during the game against Cherokee
Bluff. She was an important vocal leader of the team
throughout the season.
Tennis teams earn spots
in State Tournament
Kurtz sets DCHS
pole vault record
By: Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
By: Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
After putting in two
days of hard work at the
Region 7-AAA
Tournament this week,
the Dawson County boys
and girls tennis teams
earned places at the
GHSA State Tournament.
Both teams entered the
region tournament as the
No. 4 seed in Region 7,
playing their first-round
matches on Tuesday,
March 30.
The girls team began
their Tuesday matches at
9 a.m. against White
County at Lumpkin
County while the boys
began at 10 a.m. against
West Hall at Yahoola
Creek Park.
Dawson County got out
to a strong start, with the
girls team winning all
five matches against
White County to advance
to the semifinals later that
day against North Hall.
Across town, the boys
team would win four of
their five matches to set
up a meeting with
Cherokee Bluff in the
semifinals.
While both teams
would lose in the semifi
nals, they still had a
chance to play on
Wednesday in the third-
place matches back at the
Lumpkin County courts.
On Wednesday morn
ing, both Tigers teams
faced Lumpkin County
for a chance to be a No. 3
seed at the state tourna
ment.
The girls team began
the long day of competi
tion for Dawson County
with tight matches that
showed both teams’
desire to win.
Junior Kayleigh Moon
found herself down 3-5 in
the first set before storm
ing back to win 7-5. In
that match, Moon used
her strong finishing shots
and adjusted her defen
sive positioning to induce
unforced errors from her
opponent.
following another tight
set, Moon would prevail
7-5, 6-4.
After Dawson County’s
first doubles team lost
their match, senior Blake
Smith warded off her
opponent 6-4, 6-3 to give
the Lady Tigers two wins
on the day.
The two remaining
matches would be close
as well, with the doubles
pairing of Wendy Castro
and Amber Horton drop
ping the first set before
forcing a second-set tie
breaker. The pair would
lose the tiebreaker 7-3
and fall 4-6, 6-7.
Sophomore Marlee
Gaddis would play the
most demanding match of
the day, facing her oppo
nent for well over three
hours and exceeding the
length of the boys match
es, which started an hour
after the girls.
In a back-and-forth
affair, Gaddis narrowly
dropped the first set
before winning the sec
ond. Both players put
everything they had in the
match, with Gaddis ulti
mately falling short 5-7,
6-4, 5-7.
“Marlee played an
incredible match, proba
bly her most challenging
yet,” girls team head
coach Laura Ledbetter
said. “She pushed
through and persevered
for over three hours.
[She] does an incredible
job staying calm and
focused on each point.”
The boys team faced
challenging matches as
well, with senior Zach
friday playing a tight
first set before eventually
wearing his opponent
down to win 6-4, 6-1.
While his consistency at
the baseline is his stron
gest attribute, his willing
ness to go to the net
helped him this time
around.
Meanwhile, the doubles
pairing of sophomores
Grant Ledbetter and
Connor Woody also won
6-4, 6-1.
In the tightest match of
the day, sophomore
Chase Cofield faced and
won a first-set tiebreaker
and won a close second
set to win 7-6, 7-5 and
clinch the No.3 seed for
the boys team.
“Chase stepped up big
with a win today,” boys
head coach Logan Allen
said. “He won the clinch
ing match to make the
state tournament last year
and today he won the
match to clinch the No. 3
seed. Today was a great
performance but I really
feel like he played very
good both days.”
With that win, the other
two matches were called
off but were also close at
the time.
The doubles pairing of
seniors Connor Scroggins
and Ben Swafford lost
their first set and were
down 1-5 in the second
set before coming all the
way back to win 7-5.
Senior Lane Perry had
lost his first set but was
up 4-3 in the second
when his match was
called off.
With those results, the
girls team is the No. 4
seed from Region 7 while
the boys team is the No. 3
seed. The first round of
the State Tournament will
be during the week of
Monday, April 18.
The girls team will face
the winner of Region 5
while the boys will face
that region’s runner-up. It
has not yet been deter
mined which teams those
are.
Rio White Dawson County News
Junior Emily Kurtz has been leading the way
for Dawson County's track and field team in
the pole vault all season and just set a school
record in that event. (The photo above is from
a previous meet).
Roper shoots career
low to highlight busy
week for DCHS golf
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Christian Roper shot a career-low of 33 to high
light the first of three events that the Dawson
County High School golf teams participated in last
week.
To open the week, the boys and girls teams went
up against Habersham Central and North Lorsyth on
Monday, March 28, at Chestatee Golf Club.
It was here that Roper led the way for the Tigers
with his 3-under 33 score. Not only was this a
career-best for him, but he helped the team to its
season-best four-player aggregate of 154.
“I’m really proud of my guys,” boys team head
coach Will Anglin said. “We haven’t been playing
very well in previous weeks [but] I challenged them
See Golf 13B
Photos by Rio White Dawson County News
Zach Friday prepares to hit a backhand shot against his West Hall opponent
in his first round match.
Junior pole vaulter Emily Kurtz set a new school
record during the Dawson County track and field
team's meet on Tuesday, March 29. She cleared a
height of 8 feet 7 inches to set the mark.
"Emily is an extremely dedicated athlete that
works to be the best," head coach Arron Haynes
said. "She is a prime example of hard work paying
off [and] will not be satisfied staying at 8’7”.”
Marlee Gaddis hits a shot during her three-hour match against her Lumpkin
County opponent.
Dawsonville’s Premier Collision Center
Player Of
The Week!
Kurtz
This weeks Player of the Week
is Emily Kurtz,
who set a school record in the
pole vault with a height of
8 feet 7 inches.
Sponsored by:
Certified
Collision
Center
706-216-0992
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