Dragons continue winning ways; now 14-0
PHS Basketball, Team FYN Sports January 5, 2025
Jasper, Ga — The Pickens Dragons, were finally back on their home court on Saturday, January 4th as they took on the Coahulla Creek Colts in non-region action. After a big win on the road at White County the night before, the Dragons, came into the game at 13-0 overall and 4-0 in 6-AAA. The Colts, came into the game at 11-2 overall and 5-1 in 7-AA. The Dragons, kept their win streak in tact as they picked up the 78-39 victory.
Parker Davis, got the scoring started with a layup to make it 2-0 Dragons. A three pointer by Carter Quarles, would put the Colts ahead by one. Another bucket by Parker Davis, would give the Dragons the lead back. A 5-0 run by the Colts, led by Cullen Marti and Quarles, would give the Colts an 8-4 lead. A three pointer by Caleb Lanford, would cut the lead down to one. A pair of free throws by Waelyn Baliles, would stretch the lead back to three.
The Dragons, led by a combined 7-0 run from Parker Davis and Lanford, would reclaim the lead, 14-10. After a basket by Baliles, Lanford and Dodge Davis would hit back to back threes to make it 20-12. Gage Voyles, would cut the lead down to 5 after he made a layup and converted the and-1. After Lanford would split a pair of free throws, Marti, would connect on a three pointer to make it 21-18.
Parker Davis, would stretch the lead back to 5 after hitting a pair of free throws. After a tough bucket by Voyles, Parker Davis, would close out the quarter with a basket to make it 25-20 Dragons heading to the second.
Voyles, would begin the second quarter with another lay in to make it 25-22. Dodge Davis and Brock Barton, would then combine for an 8-0 run to make it 33-22. A bucket by Baliles, would put an end to the run and cut the lead down to 33-24. The Dragons, would respond with another 8-0 run to make it 41-24. A late three pointer by Brody Bartlett, would cut the lead to 41-27 at the break.
The Dragons, would start the second half using a 5-0 combined run from Barton and Dodge Davis to stretch the lead out to 46-27. A three pointer by Quarles, would put an end to the run, and make it 46-30. A 6-0 run by the Dragons would make it 52-30. After a basket from Voyles, the Dragons, would go on a 12-0 run to balloon the lead out to 64-32. Both teams would end the third quarter by trading buckets as the Dragons took a 69-36 lead into the fourth.
Dodge Davis and Montego Morgan, would begin a shortened fourth quarter by combining to go on a 6-0 run to make it 75-36. Both teams, would then trade three point makes as the Dragons would come away with the 78-39 win over the Colts.
Leading Scorers for the Dragons:
Caleb Lanford: 21 points
Parker Davis: 18 points
Dodge Davis: 15 points
Brock Barton: 14 points
Jamin Martin: 5 points
DJ Mitchell: 3 points
Montego Morgan: 2 points
The Dragons, will get back into region action on Tuesday, January 7th as they will travel down to Gainesville to take on the Johnson Knights. Tip off is set for 7:30 pm.
Dragons open 2025 with big region win
PHS Basketball, Team FYN Sports January 3, 2025
Cleveland, Ga — On Friday, January 3rd, the Pickens Dragons made the drive up to Cleveland to take on the White County Warriors in a 6-AAA match up to begin the 2025 portion of the schedule. The Dragons, came into the game a perfect 12-0 on the season and 3-0 in region play. While the Warriors came into the game at 3-9 overall, they held a 2-1 record in region play. Behind a big performance from Dodge Davis, the Dragons, kept their hot streak rolling with a 73-35 win.
The Dragons, began the first quarter by going on a 14-0 run. Caleb Lanford, and Dodge and Parker Davis contributed to the big run. Dawson Oliver, would end the run with a floater to make it 14-2. Dodge Davis and McCord Purdy, would then hit back to back threes to make it 22-2 Dragons heading to the second quarter.
Purdy, would start the second quarter with a layup to make it 24-2. Tripp Nix, would then connect on the first three pointer of the night for the Warriors to make it 24-5. After a three by Lanford, Nix, would make another three to make it 27-8. The Dragons, would then knock down 8 straight three pointers as Dodge Davis would hit seven of the eight. His brother Parker, would make the other one to make it 51-8.
Oliver, would put an end to the run with a pair of free throws. Parker Davis, would make a layup to make it 53-10. Oliver, would make another pair of free throws to close the first half as the Dragons led it, 53-12.
Dodge Davis, began the second half with a layup to stretch the lead to 55-12. After a three by Cohen Michaud, Brock Barton, would answer with a three of his own. After both teams traded baskets, the Dragons, would go on a 7-0 run to close out the third quarter as they led it, 68-20.
Purdy, would open the scoring in the fourth quarter by splitting a pair of free throws to make it 69-20. After a bucket by Nix, the Dragons would go on a 5-0 run as Aiden Mumaw would make a layup, and Jamin Martin would hit a three to make it 74-22. The Warriors, would counter with their own 5-0 run to make it 74-27. After a three by DJ Mitchell would end the run, The Warriors, would go on another 5-0 run to make it 77-32.
A floater by Martin, would end the run and make it 79-32. A three by Nix, would be the final scoring of the game by either team as the Dragons, come away with the 79-35 victory.
Leading scorers for the Dragons:
Dodge Davis: 37 points: (9 threes)
McCord Purdy: 12 points
Parker Davis: 11 points
Caleb Lanford: 6 points
Jamin Martin: 5 points
Brock Barton: 3 points
DJ Mitcherll: 3 points
Aiden Mumaw: 2 points
6-AAA Region Standings:
Pickens: 13-0 (4-0)
Lumpkin: 9-6 (3-1)
GAC: 10-4 (3-1)
North Hall: 8-6 (2-2)
White County: 3-10 (2-2)
Chestatee: 2-13 (1-3)
Dawson: 4-11 (1-3)
Johnson-Gainesville: 1-9 (0-4)
The Dragons, will be right back on the court on Saturday, January 4th as they take on the Coahulla Creek Colts in the first home game of 2025. Tip off is set for 5:30 pm.
Dragons win first State Tournament game since 2000
PHS Basketball, Team FYN Sports February 22, 2024
Jasper, Ga — It’s tournament time and the Pickens Dragons began their State Tournament journey on Wednesday, February 21st as they hosted the Coahulla Creek Colts for a first round match up in the AAA State Tournament. Coming into the game, the Dragons were the #2 seed out of region 7 and 20-8 overall. The Colts, came in as the #3 seed from region 6, and 19-8 overall. The Dragons, were able to pull away late in the game to pick up a 67-53 win.
Much like the girls game beforehand, the Colts won the opening tip and struck early as they found Andrew Russell cutting to the basket for the layup to make it 2-0. The Dragons, would tie things up with a basket by Parker Davis. A turnover by the Dragons led to Teagan Houser making a fast break layup to put the Colts back up, 4-2. After another near turnover, Dodge Davis was able to collect the ball and score to tie it up at 4.
The Colts, would then go on a 4-0 run as Russell and Cullen Marti would make back to back layups to give the Colts an 8-4 lead. After Parker Davis split a pair of free throws, Carter Quarles would make a tough turnaround fade away jumper to extend the lead to 10-5. The Dragons, would then go on an 8-0 run as Caleb Lanford hit a three, McCord Purdy would make a layup, and Dodge Davis would make a free throw and a layup to make it 13-10.
A pair of free throws from Greg Voyles would end the run and cut the Dragons lead to 1. Dodge Davis, would end the first quarter with a pair of free throws of his own to give the Dragons a 15-12 lead going to the second quarter.
The second quarter began with Waelyn Baliles getting inside for the bucket to make it 15-14. The Davis brothers would then go on a 4-0 run to stretch the Dragon lead out to 19-14. A 5-0 run by David Noll III would tie the game at 19. The Dragons, would respond with a 5-0 run of their own as Parker Davis would make a pair of free throws, and Lanford would hit a three to make it 24-19.
A three pointer by Quarles would cut the lead to 2. After both teams traded baskets, Parker Davis and Purdy would end the first half on a 4-0 run to give the Dragons a 30-24 lead going into the break.
The third quarter started with Lanford hitting a three to make it 33-24. After both teams went back and forth trading buckets, the Dragons would go on a 5-0 run as Purdy hit a three, and Lanford got a layup to go to make it 41-30. A three by Quarles would end the run and cut the lead to 8. After a basket by Dodge Davis, Quarles would hit another three to make it a 7-point game. Lanford would answer with a three to extend the lead to 46-36.
The Colts, would go on a 5-0 run to cut the lead in half. A big three from Freshman Jamin Martin, increased the lead back to 8. A 4-0 run by the Colts to end the third quarter cut the Dragons lead down to 49-47 going to the fourth.
The Dragons, began the fourth quarter by going on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 56-47. Marti, would end the run with a turnaround hook shot to make it 56-49. A layup by Hayden Jones and a free throw and a big two-handed dunk from Dodge Davis made it 61-49 Dragons. Houser, would hit a three to cut the lead down to 9. He would then split a pair of free throws to make it 61-53.
After a steal on the in-bounds pass, Jones was left all alone for the jam to make it 63-53. With under a minute to go and the Colts now having to foul, Parker Davis would step to the line and sink two free throws to make it 65-53. The exclamation point came late in the game when Lanford stole the ball, passed it up to Purdy, who then bounced it off the back board for Parker Davis to finish the alley-oop slam. The Dragons would take this one, 67-53.
Scorers for the Dragons:
Dodge Davis: 19 points
Parker Davis: 17 points
Caleb Lanford: 17 points
Mccord Purdy: 7 points
Hayden Jones: 4 points
Jamin Martin: 3 points
The Dragons, will now take to the road on Saturday, February 24th as they head up to Hart County to take on the Bulldogs in the AAA Sweet 16. The Bulldogs, are the #1 seed out of region 8 and are 15-13 overall. Tip off is set for 6 pm.