Dragons 4th quarter comeback falls just short at North Murray

Chatsworth, Ga — On January 26th, the Pickens Dragons (8-11, 5-4) traveled to Chatsworth to take on the North Murray Mountaineers (7-11, 2-9) in non-region action. Pickens, looked to get back on track after two tough losses, while North Murray was coming off of a tough loss to now region opponent, Lafayette. The Dragons, cut into a double digit fourth quarter deficit, but the Mountaineers held on to win 68-58.

After a Noah Sutton bucket got things going in the first quarter, the Mountaineers went on an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 lead. The Dragons went on a 5-0 run with a Owen Moss bucket and Sutton three pointer to male it 8-7. North Murray countered with a 6-0 run to extend their early lead to 14-7. Pickens, outscored the Mountaineers, 6-5 the remaining of the first quarter as North Murray took a 22-13 lead into the second.

Dragons with the ball early in the game

In the second quarter, the Mountaineers saw their lead stretch out to 16 at one point. The Dragons, cut the lead down to 10 with the help of Jaden Stewart, who went on an 8-2 run against North Murray to close the first half. Going to the break, North Murray led Pickens, 43-33.

Dragons defending the basket

The third quarter started with the Mountaineers going on a 7-0 run to make it 50-33. Ending the North Murray run was ‘Senior Tucker Lowe. After scoring two points in the first half, Lowe made a three pointer to put him over the 1,000 career point mark. Lowe became the 16th Dragon in history to accomplish this feat. As for the rest of the quarter, Pickens cut into North Murray’s lead slightly as the Mountaineers took a 60-47 lead into the fourth.

#2 Tucker Lowe surpassed 1,000 points on Tuesday

In the fourth quarter, the Dragons made a heck of a comeback attempt. After going back down 17 early in the fourth, Pickens went on an 11-0 run to cut the Mountaineer lead down to 64-58. North Murray, was able to hold off the furious rally from Pickens with a couple late free throws to get the win, 68-58.

7-AAAA Boys Basketball Standings:

Heritage: 13-5 (9-1)

Cedartown: 8-8 ( 7-2)

Northwest Whitfield: 11-5 (5-4)

Pickens: 8-11 (5-4)

Central-Carroll: 13-8 (4-4)

Ridgeland: 5-11 (1-8)

Southeast Whitfield: 4-16 (1-9}

RJ Casey