East Jackson Defeats Dawson County

Brandon Garrett led in scoring with 22 points. Jermaine Davis scored eight.

“It was a great defensive effort,” said coach Brian Turner. “Offensively we continued to struggle a bit, but our defense was tremendous the entire night and it opened up some easy scoring opportunities.”

Up next was a trip to Jefferson to face their in-county rivals, the Jackson County Panthers.

It was a tight, back-and-forth battle from the beginning. The Panthers held a slim one-point lead, 13-12, at the end of the first quarter, and only held a four-point lead, 30-26 at the half.

The Eagles moved to within two points by the end of the third quarter as the Panthers led 46-44, but Jackson County outscored the Eagles 18-14 in the final stanza to come away with the 64-58 victory.

Brandon Garrett led the Eagle offense with 20 points. Tyler Collins added 16 and Jermaine Davis scored 11.

“Our defense was just not good all night. We never could get the pressure we wanted and when we did get a trap our rotations were late,” Turner said. “However, we hung in the game despite the poor defensive effort and poor free throw shooting going 16-for-30 from the line. It was a learning experience as the guys know and understand we win because of our defense, and when we do not play it we struggle.”

The Eagles entered the Christmas break 2-1 in the region.
“That is the big picture for us and what we are going to focus on,” Turner said.