Warriors clinch top seed for 7-AAA tournament; Lady Warriors face Lumpkin to decide region race

Heading into the regular season finale Friday night, the White County High School basketball teams have a chance to do something this year that's never been done before in the history of the program – be the No. 1 seeds heading into the region tournament.

One half of the equation is set as the Warriors clinched the top spot in the boy's field with a win over West Hall last Friday night. The Lady Warriors can join them as the top seed in the girl's field with a win over Lumpkin County in the final game on the regular season slate.

The Warriors (13-5) ran their region record to 10-1 win the win over West Hall and clinched the No. 1 seed thanks to a tiebreaker implemented by Region 7-AAA.  The Warriors would win the regular season race outright with a win over Lumpkin County.

The No. 1 seed secures the team a spot in the region tournament semifinals and gives the Warriors an automatic bid in Class AAA tournament.

“Based on the tiebreakers, it looks like we've clinched the top seed,” WCHS head coach Robbie Bailey said. “One of the things we've been working toward all year is to be one of the top two seeds to get an automatic berth in the state tournament. That is so important, and it means we only have to play two games in the tournament. Our main goal is to win the region tournament, and this is a big step. But just because we are the top seed, there are no guarantees.”

On the girl's side, there is still some work to be done. WCHS and Lumpkin County are currently tied for the top spot with one loss each, but the Lady Warriors hold the head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to a win over the Lady Indians in January.

The Lady Indians had a makeup-game at Gilmer County Wednesday night, and a loss to Gilmer would significantly alter the regular season race. If things went as expected and Lumpkin got the win over Gilmer, the matchup between WCHS and Lumpkin would be for the top spot in the region.

“This game won't make or break our season; it's the most important game because it's the next game,” Davenport said. “It would be nice to be the No. 1 seed, but what we want is to win the region championship.”

Warriors

Based on available historical records, this might be the first time a WCHS boy's team has been the No. 1 seed heading into a region tournament.

Bailey said it's a significant accomplishment, but the team has bigger goals left on the docket.

“This is a big deal for the kids, but we still have bigger goals we want to achieve,” Bailey said. “I'm really proud of these kids. They have done everything we've asked them to do. The seniors have laid the foundation and they have propelled this program to another level and that will pay off in the future. I don't know if they really understand what they've done for this program. They've really helped build up this program.”

The Warriors have gotten some statewide attention over the past couple of weeks and are now ranked in a pair of state poll. The Warriors up a spot to No. 8 in this week's Kyle Sandy Class AAA poll, and jumped into the Atlanta-Journal Constitution's poll, debuting at No. 9. The Warriors want to keep the momentum going and end the regular season with a win over Lumpkin County.

“It's Lumpkin County, its a huge rivalry game,” Bailey said. “You grow up in White County, you want to beat Lumpkin. I hope we have a huge crowd. We need our to support the kids.

In last week's 60-44 win over West Hall, the Warriors jumped out to a 31-14 halftime lead and then built the lead to as much as 28 points in the second half before calling off the dogs early in the fourth quarter.

Silas Mulligan led a balanced attack with 13 point, while Jadon Yeh and Cooper Turner each scored 11 points. Turner did most of his damage from long range, finishing 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line, while Yeh knocked down a 3-pointer and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

Tavi Simmons had eight points, including hitting a pair of 3-pointers, while Reece Dockery had seven points, with a 3-pointer. Kenny Simpson and Caleb Reddy each had a 3-pointer as the Warriors connected on 10 shots from behind the arc. Dylan Sargent and Josh Brooks each scored two points in the fourth quarter for the Warriors

Lady Warriors

The Lady Warriors have been trending upwards over the past few weeks, and could put an exclamation point on the regular season with a win over the Lady Indians.

The regular season finale should be one of the top girl's games in the state as both squads enter the game state-ranked. Lumpkin County is No. 2 in the latest Kyle Sandy state poll, with the Lady Warriors checking in at No. 8.

On Jan. 12, the Lady Warriors knocked off the Lady Indians on their home court, 58-57 in overtime. Since the loss, the Lady Indians have been on a roll, winning seven straight games, including six by 20 or more points.

“In the first game, we made the plays we needed to make them,” Davenport said. “We'll have to do the same thing this time. Lumpkin County is really good at what they do. They play really well in their zone (defense), and they will play a little man at times. So we'll have to grind it out like we did the first game. They shoot the ball really well, and we need to run them off the 3-point line. We need to rotate well on defense and contest their shots. We did a good job contesting their shots in the first game.”

The win over Lumpkin County in December jumpstarted a six-game winning streak. In the past five games, the Lady Warriors have posted four double-digit wins.

“We've had our whole team available for about 10 games, so once we got everybody and got some roles established and figured out our rotations, we started coming together,” Davenport said. “But we're still learning.”

Davenport has used the entire roster this season, with specific roles becoming more apparent as the season wore on.

“We've really leaned on our five seniors, and our five sophomores have played pretty well, and our juniors have chipped in as well. We have a good mix. We've got some speed, we've got some size, and we've got some shooters. But our No. 1 thing is our grit and the girls desire to do whatever it takes to win. They do whatever we need to do to win a game.”

Last week, the Warriors blasted West Hall 77-9 in Oakwood. The Lady Warriors blew the game open with 30 points in the first quarter and led 50-2 at halftime.

The Lady Warriors had 14 players score in the game, led by Caitlyn Gailey with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Chesnee Freeman had 10 points, with two 3-pointers.

Clair Beckman had eight points, Naomi Roberts and Maddie Futch each had seven points.

Brelan Sieveking scored six on a pair of 3-pointers, Zoe Burkett scored five points, Madison Adams and Yvonne Minutello each scored four points, Dasha Cannon and Maci Shelnut each had a 3-pointer, and and Makenna Moose scored two points.