When you are playing on the road, sometimes you have to find a way to steal a win.
That's literally what happened Tuesday night in Dawsonville, as sophomore Jadon Yeh came up with a steal and turned it into a three-point play to life White County to a 59-58 win over Dawson County in the opening game of the Region 7-AAA schedule.
With 30 seconds left on the clock and Dawson County holding a 58-56 lead, the Tigers tried to inbound the ball near half court.
The inbounds pass went to Jake Craft, but Yeh ripped the ball away fron Craft, dribbled twice, scored on a layup and was fouled. The basket tied things up at 58-58 with 24 seconds on the clock. Yeh stepped to the free throw line and drained the shot to give the Warriors the lead.
After a near-turnover by the Tigers, Dawson County had one last chance to win the game. Dawson County head coach Todd Cottrell, who coached some of the best teams in WCHS history in the late 1990s and early 2000s, turned the over to senior guard Joakim Celestin, who had dominated in the fourth quarter. Coming off an inbounds play with six seconds on the clock, Celestin tried to get past Cooper Turner on the left side of the lane, but Turner cut Celestin and forced him to pull up and take a last second shot. Celestin's shot was just off the mark to left, and the miss set off a celebration for the Warrior and first-year head coach Robbie Bailey.
“I'm proud of these kids, they've worked their tails off,” Bailey said moments after the win. “This a huge win for us, but I told our kids we have a long region schedule, but we wanted to come in tonight and make a statement. There was good and bad in the game like there is, but I'm telling you, I'm so proud of these kids; they fought their tails off.”
The Warriors played well from the start, with Yeh hitting a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 12 points, and Turner scoring four points as WCHS took an 18-13 lead in the first quarter. Silas Mulligan had nine points in the second quarter, and Turner added a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 36-30 lead at the break.
The Warriors looked ready to put the Tigers away midway through the third quarter.
Jimmy King scored off a pass from Turner, and then Turner set Kenny Simpson up for a jumper near the free throw line to start a 10-5 run. Mulligan followed with a drive for a bucket, and then drained a 3-pointer off an assist from Yeh for a 45-35 lead. Reece Dockery finished for the spurt with a 3-pointer from the left win, set up by a nice pass from Riley Egerton for a 48-35 lead with 3:35 to go in the corner.
But the Tigers woke up, scoring the final eight points of the quarter. Craft hit a pair of 3-pointers and Celestin added a basket to cut the Warriors' advantage to 48-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Warriors couldn't get much done on the offensive end to start the fourth quarter, and Tyler Lane scored twice in the paint for Tigers, and Celestin added a bucket to cut the deficit to 50-49 with just over six minutes to play.
After a Warrior turnover, Celestin scored in transition to give the Tigers their first lead of the second half at 51-50 with 5:50 left on the clock. Dawson' Jaden Gibson drained a long 3-pointer and Celestin scored on another drive to make it 56-50 with 3:30 left on the clock.
King broke the Warriors' scoring drought at the 3:22-mark with a free throw, and Yeh scored on a jumper just inside the free throw lane to make 56-53 with with two minutes to go. Celestin scored on a drive with 1:10 to go to make it 58-52, but missed the free throw on three-point play opportunity.
With 47 seconds to go, Dockery found Mulligan in the right corner, and Mulligan buried the 3-point shot to pull the Warriors within two at 58-56, setting up Yeh's late game heroics.
“We could have folded the tents up when Dawson made the run,” Bailey said. “I think we got out to a 13-point lead at one point, but when we got down, the kids kept fighting.”
Yeh finished with 19 points, including a pair of 3-points and a 3-for-3 performance from the free throw line. Mulligan had 17 points, and also knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. King and Turner each had seven points, with Turner knocking down a 3-pointer, while Dockery had four points, including a 3-pointer, and Simpson scored three points.
Celestin had 20 points for the Tigers, while Craft finished with 17 points, including five 3-pointers.
Bailey, while estactic about the win, knows the Warriors still have a long way to go in the region race.
“It's still early, and I don't want to peak right now,” Bailey said. “But if you want to compete for a region title, you've got to come into places like this and win on the road. I don't know what else to say about this team. We're still nowhere near we could be later in the season. We're struggling at times offensively with some of the sets we're running, but we'll get it worked out. We're going to keep getting better one day at a time. That's what I preach every day.”
South Forsyth
The Warriors lost a close non-region matchup to Class AAAAAAA South Forsyth, 43-39, Saturday afternoon in Cumming.
The Warriors got off to a fast start, taking an early 9-0 lead, but the War Eagles grabbed the lead late in the second quarter, and then held off the Warriors in a defensive battle in the second half. Turner and Yeh each scored nine points in the game, while Mulligan had eight, Simpson scored five, Egerton had a 3-pointer, and Dockery scored two.
East Jackson
The Warriors kicked off the home portion of the schedule last Friday night, blasting East Jackson 65-35.
WCHS rolled out to a 16-3 lead in the first quarter, with Mulligan scoring seven points and Yeh addig six in the early run. The Warriors lead by 12 at the break, but put the game on ice with a 20-8 run in the third quarter. Darius Cannon had five points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer, and Mulligan and Alex Thornton each scored four points.
Yeh finished with 16 points, while Mulligan had 14 points. Dockery scored seven points, Cannon and Simpson each had five points, Tavi Simmons and Thornton each scored four points, Turner and Dylan Sargent each had three points, and King and Josh Brooks had two points.