The Dawson County High School varsity girls' basketball team improved to a perfect 7-0 record with wins over East Hall, 52-49, Union County, 41-37, and Pickens County, 71-40 last week.

All three games were at home.

The Dec. 9 game against East Hall was a nail-biter. The Region 7-AAA rivals are favorites, along with Banks County, to battle the Lady Tigers this season for the region crown.

Coach Steve Sweat's team had to battle back, twice, in the fourth quarter to take the three point victory.

Despite foul trouble, which caused her to miss large portions of the contest, Sheyenne Seabolt led Dawson County in scoring with 19 points.

Seabolt was fouled on a shot with just 1.2 seconds remaining in the contest. The shot was good, tying the game at 49-49. The senior then hit her free throw to give Dawson a 50-49 lead.

Karlie Bearden then stole the inbounds pass by the Lady Vikings, giving the ball back to Dawson County. Bearden finished the game with eight points and 10 rebounds.

"What a great game," Sweat said. "It was two pretty good teams going at it early in region play. This could be a big win for us when we look back at the end of the season, as far as the region is concerned. Both teams played their hearts out tonight."

Also entering the scoring column were Jordan Moore with eight points, Ashley Parker added six points, Haley Burgess with five points, Peytan Porter and Katelynn Simpson contributed three points each.

With the loss East Hall is now 5-3 on the season and 0-2 in region play.

The Lady Tigers were able to come away with a close four-point win over Union County on Dec. 12.

Ansley Costley was the hero for Dawson County. The Lady Tigers trailed 37-36 with less than a minute to play. Costley then calmly nailed a huge three-pointer to give the Lady Tigers a two point lead, 39-37, with very little time left in the game.

Dawson County's defense then stopped the Lady Panthers on the next possession. Union County fouled Bearden, sending her to the charity stripe where she knocked down both free throws to extend the Lady Tiger lead to 41-37.

Bearden had a double-double in the contest with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Parker finished with 12 points. Porter added five points, Costley and Simpson both finished with four points each, and Mikaela Egan scored two points.

"I am so proud of the way the girls hung in there to get the win over a tough Union County team," Sweat said.

The Dec. 13 game with Pickens County was decided early on with Dawson County jumping out to a huge 15-4 first quarter lead.

The Dragonettes from Jasper rebounded to make the game respectable with 20 second quarter points, but Pickens was unable to find a way to stop Dawson from scoring. The Lady Tigers scored in double digits in all four quarters.

Sweat was able to rest some of his starting players and give his backups some much needed playing time. Nine different Lady Tigers scored.

Seabolt did not play in either weekend game.

The Lady Tigers are currently 7-0 overall and 1-0 in region play.

It will be a tough week ahead for Sweat's talented team. On Tuesday, the team played a one-loss Banks County team in a Region 7-AAA contest. Scores were unavailable at press time.

On Friday the team will travel to play a 7-1 Franklin County team in Carnesville. The Lady Lions are 2-0 in region play.

Saturday the team will begin a three-day tournament at North Murray High School. Times for the games and opponents were unavailable at press time.