When the Dawson County varsity girls suffered their first loss of the season to region opponent Banks County recently, they refused to allow one game to derail their early-season progress.

The Lady Tigers fought back with a pair of victories over St Anne-Pacelli and Pinecrest Academy to improve to 5-1 on the season.

Dawson hit the court with intensity versus the Lady Vikings and put up 39 points in the first half on the way to a 72-14 win over Pacelli.

The Lady Tigers saw contributions from a good portion of the roster as five players finished in double figures.

Senior guard Carly Gilreath led the team with 19 points.

Contributing 10 points each were Whitney Glover, Alison Honea, Ashley Parker and Sheyenne Seabolt.

Against Pinecrest, defense was the name of the game as Dawson limited the Paladins to 10 or fewer points in every quarter.

After leading 32-18 at halftime, the Lady Tigers emerged from the locker room and put up another 32 points in the third quarter alone en route to a 74-29 victory.

Freshman wing player Karlie Bearden came up big for Dawson with 13 points, while Gilreath led the team again with 20 points.

Seabolt grabbed eight rebounds to go with 10 points. Parker pitched in nine points, while Kacie Bearden finished with eight.

Up next for Dawson is a battle with West Forsyth tomorrow (Dec. 20) at 7 p.m. The Lady Wolverines (Region 6-AAAAAA) are off to a 1-4 start this season.