COMMERCE, Ga. — In checking his list, Santa must have decided the Dawson County boys basketball team had been naughty but the girls had been nice so he delivered the appropriate gifts Tuesday at the Commerce Christmas Tournament.

The Lady Tigers defeated Stephens County 45 to 34 and will move on to play the winner of the Madison County vs. Hebron Academy game Wednesday.
Paced by junior Abi Chatham’s 23 points, the Lady Tigers rallied from an 8-point deficit in the first quarter to post their fourth victory of the season.

The game was tied 18-18 at halftime. Dawson County led 33-30 after three quarters then outscored the Lady Indians by 8 in the final eight minutes. Kaylee Sticker and Cadey Ayers each had 7 points for the winners. Tykia Thompson led Stephens County with 20 points.

Following that game, Coach Chad Pittman’s Tigers ran into a buzz saw in Stephens County.

The Indians scored the game’s first 13 points. Dawson County didn’t light the scoreboard until Cullen Reed sank a 3-pointer with 2:59 left in the first period.

With Chaz Bridges scoring 13 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, the Indians raced off to a 36-19 lead at intermission and were never really threatened the rest of the way.

After trailing by as much as 25 points in the third quarter, the Tigers went on a 12-3 run to pull to within 59-48 midway through the fourth but that was as close as they could get.

Cullen Reed led Dawson County with 21 points followed by Jeremiah Crumley with 20 and Joseph Cronan with 10.

Senior Nunu Walker added 20 points for the Indians and Deundra Singleton scored 16.