DAWSONVILLE - The Dawson County Tigers rallied from an 11 point halftime deficit to take a round one victory over Beach, 57-53, in the Class AAA basketball playoffs.

After a see-saw first quarter, Beach seized first half momentum by advancing a 16-11 first quarter lead to a 33-22 halftime score.

The Tigers cut the deficit to 35-33 in the third quarter, but found themselves down 43-37 entering the final quarter.  The Tigers reclaimed the lead 50-47 with 3:40 remaining in the game.  With Beach holding a 53-52 lead with 48-seconds remaining, either team could score until Mason Harvey hit the go-ahead basket with 5 seconds, 54-53.  Harvey followed suit by hitting 3-of-4 freethrows in the final seconds to secure the tournament win.

Harvey finished the game with 19 points.  Landon Lee added 13 while Cayson Chester and Jack Ledbetter pitched in 10 points each.

SARDIS - GAC held off multiple Dawson County second half rallies to take the Region 6AAA Championship, 59-51 on Friday Night.

Dawson took an early lead int he game, but GAC to build their 14-12 first quarter lead to 26-22 at the half.  Dawson battled back to tie the game 32-32 in the third quarter before building a 45-39 lead going into the final quarter.  The Tigers were to pull to game to two points in the fourth, but could not regain the lead.

Dawson will await the final GHSA seeding to learn who they will host in next weeks Class AAA basketball playoff opener.

Scoring:

Dawson: Landon Lee 24, Mason Harvey 10, Cayson Chester 9, Jack Ledbetter 6, Brody Sorensen 4.  GAC: Adrian Hughes 19

SARDIS - The Dawson County Tigers rallied from a six point fourth quarter deficit to upend rival Lumpkin Count 63-62 in the Region 6AAA Semi-finals on a Jack Ledbetter shot off an offensive rebound with 1.8 seconds remaining.

The Tigers raced out to an 11-0 lead before Lumpkin rallied for the first lead of the game with 1:15 remaining in the first half, 28-26, finishing an 8-0 run and taking a 30-26 lead into the half.

Dawson rallied to reclaim a lead 33-32 early third quarter before the Indians reclaimed momentum, eventually building a 58-52 lead midway through the fourth quarter.   Down 61-56 in the final two minute, the Tigers chipped away to cut the score to 62-61 as Landon Lee hit three freethrows with 49 seconds.  Dawson then forced a Lumpkin shot clock violation to set up the game winning possession with 13 seconds.

Scoring:

Dawson: Lee 17, Ledbetter 17, Cayson Chester 10, Mason Harvey 9, Brody Sorensen 8, Corbin Cantrell 2.

Lumpkin: Landon Pierce 19, Jordan Richerson 14, Martin Hulsey 12, Jackson Pulley 9, Tyler Cortes 4, Keiwhan Gallagher 4

DAHLONEGA - Dawson County earned an appearance in the Class AAA playoffs as they advanced to the 6AAA Semi Finals with their 66-57 victory over North Hall.

The Tigers rallied from a second quarter 23-14 deficit to take a 31-30 halftime lead.  Dawson's lead hit seven in the third quarter before North Hall rallied to a 47-43 deficit after three.   The Tiger lead hit 57-47 with four minutes to play, but went on a 3.5 minute scoring drought that allowed North Hall to cut the score to 59-57 with 52 seconds remaining.  The Tigers were able to score the games final seven points to secure the win.

The Tigers shot 7-of-14 3-pointers and 21-26 from the freethrow line.  North Hall shot 3-15 from behind the arc and 8-11 freethrows.

Scoring:

Dawson-Landon Lee 34, Jack Ledbetter 12, Cayson Chester 10, Mason Harvey 10

North Hall-Gunner Spain 20, Carter Causey 14, Kenny Sullivan 12, Walker Vining 8, Jackson Miller 2.

DAWSONVILLE - Pickens swept Dawson in the final regular season game of the 2025-2026 season.  The evening opened up with Dawson Lady Tigers allowing an uncontested layup, which was reciprocated by Pickens allowing Dawson Senior Maddie Suita, whose season ending earlier this year with a torn ACL, to score an uncontested shot to finish out her Dawson career.

GIRLS: Pickens 43 Dawson 38

Pickens, behind 22 Ellison Steinhauer points, held off several Lady Tiger rallies. After Pickens extended to a 26-24 Q3 lead, thanks to a 10-0 run, Dawson went on a 10-0 run, behind 7 Ava Roberson points in the fourth,  to cut the score to 36-34 with 4:20 remaining in the game.  After swapping baskets for the next two minutes, Pickens was able to secure the win, hitting 5-of-6 freethrows.  Pickens only Q4 points came from the charity stripe.

Leading scorers: Dawson-Lilly Abbott 12, Ava Roberson 9.  Pickens-Ellison Steinhauer 22.

BOYS: Pickens 65 Dawson 56

Pickens was able to hold off multiple Dawson County second half runs to finish the regular season with a region win and secure the region tournament 2-seed.  Trailing 33-22 at the half, Dawson opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run to get to a 35-30 score, but Pickens would explode out to a 50-34 lead.  Dawson trailed 57-42 going to the fourth and made won final run to cut the score to 57-50.

Leading Scorers: Dawson-Landon Lee 18, Cayson Chester 10.  Pickens McCord Purdy 30, Brody Bryant 18

CLERMONT - Dawson County and North Hall split a Region 6AAA matchup on Tuesday Night

GIRLS: Dawson 60 North Hall 50

The Lady Tigers swept the season series with North Hall after taking a 4-2 lead, Dawson rushed out to an 18-10 first quarter lead, 33-24 at the half.  In the second quarter, Dawson built leads that hit a dozen and held off some late Trojan runs.  Senior post Ava Roberson had a dominate game, tallying 25 points and 13 rebounds.   Kadence Rhodes continued to have solid product as she added 13 points along with Lilly Abbott's 13.   North Hall was let by Tallulah Ball with 12.

BOYS: North Hall 81 Dawson 80

The Trojans shaved away an 8-point deficit behind Gunner Spain's record setting 54 points to avenge an earlier season blowout to the Tigers.  Spain hit a 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining to take an 81-78 lead.   Dawson cut the score to 81-80 with 31 seconds, then forced a North Hall turnover to get a chance for a game winning basket at time ticked off.  Dawson was led by Landon Lee's 26 points.  Mason Harvey finished with 14, Jack Ledbetter with 13, and Corbin Cantrell with 10