Dade County's Tori Reed, left, shoots around Gordon Lee's Katelyn Bickett during their game Friday, Jan. 30, 2015, at Dade County High School in Trenton, Ga.Friday night, though, Watson needed his team's "A" game and got it. The Lady Wolverines (16-6, 5-5) won 59-43 for a regular-season split with Gordon Lee and continued hope for a top-four seed at the Region 7-AA tournament.
"This win was huge," Watson said. "We're tied for fourth, so we have to win out. Our older kids are leading our younger kids, who are growing up. We're playing a lot of freshmen, and it's like they say: The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores. We're understanding things better, though we still don't execute very well."
One of those freshmen, Tori Reed, had a game-high 20 points and contributed to a 36-18 rebound advantage with nine boards, while another youngster, guard Cassidy Cole, added 10 points and several assists. Reed had six early points as Dade built a 14-8 lead through the first quarter.
Senior post Sarah Reid, who led in rebounds with 11, scored six consecutive points in the second quarter as the Lady Wolverines used a 12-5 run to build a 26-13 advantage on their way to a 30-17 lead at halftime. Not only did the Lady Trojans get outmanned on the boards, but the Dade defense did a nice job of keeping quick Gordon Lee guards Tiffany Holland and Sarah Meadows out of the lane.
"They killed us on penetration at their place, so we went to a zone and I was worried about rebounding, but we did a good job on the boards," Watson said. "Gordon Lee does such a great job of making you play their pace, not so much in turning you over but in taking quick shots, but tonight I thought we played more at our pace."
A Reed end-to-end layup after blocking a shot was followed by Tori Gass's steal and layup to swell the Dade lead to 38-20 midway through the third period, but the Lady Trojans, behind Katelyn Bickett's five points, ran off an 8-0 run to close within 10.
They got within nine on Meadows' 3-pointer with 4:13 to play, but Reed ended any comeback hopes with a three-point play a minute later to get the lead back to 15.
"Rebounding was the key tonight, and their coaching staff took away our strengths," said Gordon Lee coach Lester Galyon, whose team remains in third place with a 6-5 league mark. "They took away our penetration and they were able to capitalize on the other end by getting it inside to their big girl. It's tough to beat people when you're struggling and they're playing well."
Reid added 14 points and Gass had 10 for Dade. Holland topped Gordon Lee with 14, followed by Meadows with 10.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.