LCHS girls basketball improves to 8-5

The LCHS varsity girls basketball team bounced back from a disappointing loss to region rival Dawson County by pulling out a big non conference win over Banks County to improve to 8-5 overall when they stepped onto the hardwood last week.
The Lady Indians began the week with a home, conference game against their neighboring region rival the Dawson County Lady Tigers at the Longhouse at LCHS on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Despite three different Lady Indian players recording double digit scoring in the contest, Lumpkin was unable to outshoot the Lady Tigers during the matchup.
Dawson’s offense did well to attack the tenacious defense of the Lady Indians and convert on easy buckets throughout the contest.
In the end, the Lady Indians fell to their region rival by a final score of 64-51.
Freshman Lexi Pierce led the offensive charge for the Lady Indians in the game with 14 points.
Both Kate Jackson and Isabel Davenport each contributed 12 points, Makenzie Caldwell added nine points and center Madisyn Echols connected for four points in the loss.
The Lady Indians turned the ball over 32 times in the contest to Dawson’s 17 turnovers.
“You can’t turn the ball over that many times and expect to win,” said LCHS head girls basketball coach David Dowse.
The defeat marked the fifth of the season for the Lady Indians and dropped their overall record to 7-5 and their region record to 2-3.
The Lady Indians looked to bounce back from the loss to Dawson and get back in the win column when they traveled to Banks County to square off with the Lady Leopards in a non conference matchup on Friday, Dec. 20.
The Lumpkin offense struggled in the early goings of the contest and the Lady Indians found themselves down 11-4 with a minute left in the quarter. However, the Lady Indians went on a 5-0 run to close out the quarter and to cut Banks County’s lead to 11-9.
The 5-0 run to end the quarter sparked the Lady Indians’ offense. Lumpkin’s defense stepped up and allowed the Lady Indians to get some easy transition baskets in the second quarter. Lumpkin ended the half on a 20-6 run and took a 24-17 lead into the halftime break.
The Lady Indians continued to roll in the second half, outscoring the Lady Leopards 12-8 in the third quarter and 17-10 in the fourth quarter.
The end result was a 53-35 victory for Lumpkin, upping their overall record to 8-5.
“We talked a lot about the importance of defense and protecting the ball after the Dawson loss,” Dowse said. “When we play good defense and take care of the ball, we are hard to beat.”
The Lumpkin defense was the catalyst for many of the team’s transition points and played a huge part in the Lady Indians securing the win.
Freshman Kate Jackson put on a stellar performance for the Lady Indians in the win. Jackson was an absolute force under the boards and led the Lumpkin offense with 17 points.
Point guard Isabel Davenport continued her strong junior season with 14 points, freshman Lexi Pierce contributed 13 points and Makenzie Caldwell added five points in the non conference victory.
The Lady Indians will be back in action when they take part in the Battle of the State tournament hosted by Towns County on Thursday, Dec. 26. Lumpkin will face off with Murphy, N.C. in the first round of the three-day tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 10 a.m.