It came down to the final shot – a 3-point attempt by Trey Harvey that rimmed off, securing a 68-67 win for Jefferson as the Dragons rallied from a dozen down Saturday afternoon in Dawsonville. The Dragons (13-4; 3-1 in 8-AAAAA) trailed after every quarter of play, but 43 combined points from Drew Williamson and Micah Hooper propelled them past the Tigers (8-7; 1-2 in 7-AAA).

The second half became a clinic for Harvey, Williamson, and Hooper, with the former scoring 18 points in the second half and the Dragon duo accounting for 25.

The Tigers relied early on the 3-ball, hitting on 11 deep shots in the contest. Early on, it was paying dividends as Dawson raced out to a 23-17 lead in the opening quarter. Harvey and Joshua Priest had a pair of trifectas, with the team recording 5 in the first. Priest’s fourth triple came in the second and put the game seemingly out of hand at 31-19 in favor of Dawson County. It was an 8-2 run that momentarily stymied the Dragons.

Dashawn Keith and Hooper both had 3-point play opportunities (Hooper converted his), which bridged the gap down to 36-30 going into the half. The Tigers stayed up by double digits early in the third, but Hooper scored 10 3rd-quarter points to make it a 53-50 game going into the final period.

A Clay Owen shot from downtown gave the Dragons their first lead at 60-58, and a Tra Harrison 3-pointer moments later again reclaimed that lead. Dawson knotted the game at 64 apiece on an Ethan Parker bucket, and Harvey had a turnaround jumper to go up 66-64 in the closing moments. Keith, who ended with just 6 points, made them count. His biggest shot of the night came with 30 ticks left, a floater that grazed the net on the way down and gave the Dragons the 68-67 lead. Harvey dribbled out the rest of the clock and found an open look for the winning shot, but it just missed.

Harvey had 26 points, a game-high for Dawson, making 4 3-pointers. Priest had 15 points (5 3-pointers), and Parker 13. Landon Lee added 5, Nick Bellinger 4, and 2 each for Samuel Glover and Dre Walton. The Dragons were paced by 22 from Williamson and 21 from Hooper. Jaden Butts had 8, Keith and Owen had 6 apeice, and Harrison had 4.