Mountaineers fall short at Dade

Published 8:03 am Tuesday, February 14, 2012

North Murray held Dade County below its season scoring average, but the combination of turnovers and poor shot selection doomed the Mountaineers in the Sub-region 7B-2A championship game Monday in Trenton.

Zach Vess finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds, but coach Eric Bishop said the Mountaineers got out of their rhythm against the Wolverines in the 77-54 loss.

“We forced a lot of shots that we shouldn’t have taken,” Bishop said. “The main thing is to play our game. A lot of times, we were just giving them the ball.”

It was the third time that Dade had beaten the Mountaineers (19-8) this season, but both teams will be in action in the Region 7-2A tournament when it starts Thursday at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center. North Murray will play Armuchee on Thursday at 7 p.m., with the winner securing a spot in the Class 2A state tournament. Dade County (21-5), which is assured of making the state tournament, led 24-11 at the end of the first quarter and stretched that lead to 46-26 at halftime.

Tyler Duckett finished with 17 points, and Cody Malone had 10 points and nine boards.

• Sonoraville girls 43, North Murray 29: The Lady Mountaineers came up short in their bid to make the Region 7-2A tournament, falling in the third-place game at the Sub-region 7B-2A tournament at Dade County, but North Murray coach Keith Robinette will look back on his team’s second varsity season as a year of progress.

North Murray finished with a 15-13 record a year after going 4-21.

“The kids battled,” he said. “These girls don’t quit. That’s a big difference between us this year and last year, so I’m very excited. After the game, we didn’t really even mention anything about the game. We hit on the positives, the things we were able to accomplish this year.”

Kara Deal had 10 points to lead North Murray, which trailed at the end of each period and was outscored 15-6 in the third as Sonoraville built a 32-18 lead heading into the fourth.

“It was a real physical, tough game,” Robinette said. “We had some opportunities early in the first quarter and the first half, and unfortunately we didn’t convert.”

Along with Sonoraville, Calhoun and Dade County advance to the region tournament.