Pickens High School was the site of two action-packed games on Friday night, as the Dragonettes pulled off a huge upset by beating the Allatoona Lady Buccaneers,a team ranked third in the state of Georgia prior to the game, and the Dragons fought hard but just couldn’t beat the high-flying Buccaneers.The night began with the girl’s game, which featured two teams that were unwilling to give up an inch anywhere on the court.

The Dragonettes were sitting pretty through the first half, as nice ball movement led to easy baskets and a 28-21 lead at the end of the second quarter. The Lady Bucs stepped up the pace in the third quarter, scoring twenty-one points on Pickens to cut the Dragonettes’ lead to just two points going into the fourth.

The last minute of play featured almost as much drama as possible, as a three-pointer by Kadie Mullinax with 40 seconds left in regulation gave Pickens a slim 55-54 lead.

A go-ahead shot by the Lady Bucs with 10.4 seconds left led to a mad scramble down the court by Pickens point guard Makayla Angel, who then passed the ball to Sarah Smith.

Just when it appeared that all hope for the Dragonettes was lost, Smith was fouled with just 0.3 seconds left on the clock, setting up two foul shots for the outstanding junior. Smith made both shots, and a quick inbound by Allatoona was all for naught, as the clock hit all zeroes and the Dragonettes won by a final score of 57-56.

Kristen Garner led the Dragonettes in scoring with eighteen points in what was arguably the team’s biggest win of the season. Just a step behind Kristen was Sarah Smith, who finished the game with twelve points. Kristen and Danielle Goss tied for a team-high seven rebounds.

Now given the rare chance to send both of Allatoona’s teams home with a loss, the Dragons hit the court with the challenge of slowing down an explosive Buccaneers’ squad. Pickens was able to hang with Allatoona for a portion of the game, but several rallies started by the Dragons were quickly thwarted by the Buccaneers, leaving the Dragons dazed and confused.

The Dragons trailed at the end of all four quarters of this game after leading early in the first quarter, ultimately losing by the final score of 67-43.

Despite the disappointing outcome, several Dragons had commendable performances in the game. Wesley Easterwood led the Dragons in scoring with eighteen points. Point guard Spencer Jones did his job rebounding the ball throughout the night, leading the team with seven. Tanner Brumby was able to find his open teammates time after time, and in the end racked up a team-high five assists.

The Dragons and Dragonettes’ regular season is now down to just two games, a game on February 7th against Cartersville and Senior Night on February 10th against White County. Both games are at home. The Dragonettes’ game against Cartersville is scheduled to start at 6:00 with the Dragons’ game following at 7:30.