The Pickens Dragons and Dragonettes took care of business in their final regular season games of the 2011-2012 season, as both teams defeated White County on a senior night that the Class of 2012 in attendance and on the court will never forget. The singing of the national anthem by senior Emily Wheeler meant it was time for the opening game of the evening featuring the Dragonettes and the Lady Warriors, a battle between two teams that were hungry to add another win to their resumes prior to the start of their regional tournament.

The Dragonettes hit the court fired up and were ready to give the fans plenty to cheer about, outscoring the Lady Warriors in the first and second quarter to go into the locker room with a 28-21 lead.

It was much of the same in the second half, as Pickens was able to stick to its gameplan and stay conservative while at the same time increasing its lead. The Dragonettes would go on to win the game by a final score of 57-47, capping off an impressive regular season with the team’s seventeenth win.

Point guard Makayla Angel led the Dragonettes in scoring and assists with eighteen points and four assists in the victory. Sarah Smith got the job done once again down low, posting a team-high seven rebounds.

In between the girls’ game and the boy’s game, Pickens High’s seniors involved with the basketball teams, basketball cheerleading teams, and dance team were honored.

The Dragonettes had three seniors on this year’s squad: Erin Dean, Ellie Fields, and Kristen Garner. The Dragons had seven seniors this season: Sam Crawford, Wesley Easterwood, Spencer Jones, Aries Johnson, Jake Ledbetter, Austin Murphy, and Matt Stracener.

Senior managers for the teams were Sarah Alexander, Alexa Baggs, and Alisha Lawson. Senior cheerleaders include Danielle Burton, Jesslyn Chastain, Rachel Green, Alex Kolowski, Kylie Parker, Brianna Russell, and Kayla Watson. Senior dance team members were Megan Dixon and Tiffani Stone.

With the ceremony honoring this year’s graduating class complete, the Dragons were now called upon to finish the special senior night with a sweep of the Warriors. The Pickens’ players showed themselves willing and able to fight in a close game, leading 10-9 after the first quarter and then increasing their lead by eleven to hold a comfortable 26-14 lead at halftime.

As much as the Dragons would have loved to ease through the last two quarters of play, the Warriors would have none of it, scoring sixteen points to cut the deficit to 32-30 going into the fourth quarter. Now in do-or-die mode once again, the Dragons delivered in the final quarter of play, scoring nineteen points to seal a 51-44 victory.

Wesley Easterwood led the Dragons in scoring with fifteen points in the win. Following close behind in the scoring were fellow seniors Spencer Jones and Sam Crawford, who each scored twelve points. Crawford led the team in rebounding with an impressive sixteen rebounds, while Jones led Pickens in assists and steals with five assists and four steals.

With the regular season now officially over, the Dragons sit at 12-13 and Dragonettes at 17-8 overall. Next up for the two teams is the regional tournament at Murray County High School, where a good showing could result in a trip to the state tournament.

The Dragonettes’ first game of the tournament will be against the Ridgeland Panthers on Tuesday night at 8:30, while the Dragons’ first game will pit them against the Southeast Whitfield Raiders on Monday night at 8:30.