The Lady Dragons of Jefferson turn their attention this week to region tournament play after wrapping up their regular season Monday.
Jefferson ended their season by splitting games with Banks County and North Oconee.
The Lady Dragons will begin region tourney play on Saturday at Dawson County, where they will face either Fannin County or Rabun County.
Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
Banks County
Coming off of a win on Feb. 6 over East Jackson, the Lady Dragons traveled to Banks County to face the Lady Leopards.
The game was close from early on, with both teams looking for an advantage. The Lady Dragons would pull out to a five-point advantage by the half, leading 18-13.
Jefferson would continue to work on that advantage through the second half, taking a 12-point lead over the Lady Leopards by the end of the third quarter. Down the stretch, Jefferson was able to hold Banks County at bay, as the Lady Dragons won 45-35.
Stephanie Fincher led the Lady Dragons in scoring on the night with 14 points.
The victory allowed Jefferson to clinch third place in the subregion.
“We did not shoot the ball particularly well, but we got up by 12 at the end of the third quarter, then we took the air out of the game in the fourth quarter,” said coach Jason Gibson. “We held their leading scorer to two points all night. We did an excellent job defensively on her. We tried to completely take her away from them, and we were very successful at doing that.”
North Oconee
With three wins in a row under their belts, as well as third in the subregion, the Lady Dragons were looking to end their season on a high note when they traveled to North Oconee to face the Lady Titans on Monday.
The game had been delayed from Friday due to wintry weather, a situation seen all over the region.
North Oconee took an early lead, moving out to a 19-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Titans broke the game open in the second quarter, holding Jefferson to four points while they added 14 to carry a 33-18 lead into the half.
The Lady Titans would continue to control the game in the second half, outscoring Jefferson 15-12 to take a 58-30 victory.
Bethany Whitlock scored 11 points to lead the Lady Dragons in scoring.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
