Dawson takes down Atascocita to advance to third round
March 1, 2023
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"We'd lost to them in the third round the last two years," Dawson head coach Mark Barre said. "Us beating them this year in the Texas Invitational created a whole different mentality for us, I thought.
"If we had lost that game, then we might be standing around saying 'We just can't beat these guys.'"
Dawson was up to the challenge with a new focus and energy that they weren't going to be denied this year.
The victory sends Dawson (31-5) into a third-round regional quarterfinal contest against District 24-6A champion Clear Falls (late Tuesday).
As expected, the game was going to be an up-and-down battle between two Houston area powers.
Dawson took a 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and the game was back-and-forth in the second period as Dawson closed with a 25-24 advantage at the end of the first half.
The third quarter set the tone for the rest of the game as senior Jaden Miller led the way as he hit a 3-pointer at the end of the period giving Dawson a 41-36 lead entering the final frame.
But Miller, who is an East Central Oklahoma commit, got some help when Jaeden Mccleskey and Kendrick Bailey also added 3-pointers to go with 5-of-7 free throws from Miller, Devan Brown, and Charles Anderson.
The 3-point shooting momentum carried over into the fourth quarter as Keshawn Cotton and Larry Lyons followed Miller's long range bomb with two straight 3-point missiles for a 47-38 cushion.
With 7:20 left in the game, it became a free throw display for Dawson down the stretch as Miller set the pace hitting 8-of-8.
Atascocita hit only one field goal in the fourth quarter but hit 9-of-10 from the charity stripe but it wasn't enough as Dawson outscored Atascocita 22-11 in the frame to post the 63-47 final score.
Miller earned game-high scoring honors with 18 points while Lyons tossed in 17 and Anderson added 11 points.
The Eagles hit 19-of-27 from the charity stripe.
