Wolverines Secure Third Seed Heading Into Region Tournament
By EDDY GIFFORD
Sports Writer
Photo by Eddy Gifford – Brody Cooper came up big against Trion on Friday night leading the Wolverines to their second win over the Bulldogs this season and securing the third seed in the upcoming region tournament. Dade will face the Coosa-Armuchee winner on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. at Armuchee.
The Wolverine basketball team hosted the Armuchee Indians last week in the last home game of the 2022-23 season.
Dade got off to a fast start and never looked back, taking the early lead and outscoring the Indians 23-10 in the first quarter.
Armuchee recovered somewhat in the second quarter, managing to stay close in points, 15-16 but still trailing at the end of the first half by 14, 39-25.
The second half would be more of the same for the Wolverines as the outmanned Indians just could not keep up the pace, and at the end of the third quarter, the lead had grown to 20 points, 59-39.
The fourth quarter was all even as both teams played a lot of different players, gaining experience for the upcoming tournament. Dade went on to win 71-51.
The Wolverines were led by Levi Moreland with 16 points, followed by Brody Cooper with 14 points and Bryson Shrader with 13 points.
Armuchee 10 15 14 12 51
Dade Co. 23 16 20 12 71
Bryson Shrader 13, Demetris Walker 4, H Garmany 1, Carter Christiansen, Kade Pardue 6, Brody Cooper 14, Zach Counts 4, Jase Anderson 2, Ben Williams 2, Conner Wilburn 3, Levi Moreland 16, Braydan Jones 6.
The Wolverines traveled to Trion last Friday to face the Bulldogs in the final regular season game of the year and it was a big game for the Wolverines.
Coming into the game, Trion held a one game lead over Dade in the standings so a win would be a big one.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle as neither team was able to take control, and at the end of the quarter, the Bulldogs held a one-point lead, 12-11.
The action heated up in the second quarter as the Wolverines found their range and out scored Trion 18-15 to take a two-point lead at the end of the first half, 29-27.
The two teams continued to battle toe-to-toe in the third quarter with Dade outscoring the Bulldogs 14-13 to lead 43-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
Dade would put the game away with a big fourth quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 20-16, and coming away with a 63-56 win.
With this win, the Wolverines finished with an 8-6 region record, tied with Trion for third place. The Wolverines get third seed by the tie breaker having beaten Trion twice during the regular season.
Brody Cooper had a big night leading the Wolverines with 17 points while holding the Bulldogs leading scorer to just four points. Conner Wilburn scored 13 points and played well on both ends of the court while Kade Pardue was great off the bench with five points and two big steals.
Braydan Jones came up big in the fourth quarter hitting two of two three-point attempts.
Dade Co. 11 18 14 20 63
Trion 12 15 13 16 56
Bryson Shrader 5, Kade Pardue 4, Brody Cooper 17, Zach Counts 6, Ben Williams 2, Conner Wilburn 13, Levi Moreland 9, Braydan Jones 7.
The Wolverines now head into the region tournament at Armuchee as the third seed and need one win to advance to the state tournament.
Dade County will face the winner of the Coosa (6) verses Armuchee (7) game on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. A win then puts them in the semi-finals on Saturday against Chattooga and also advances them to the first round of the state tournament.
Win or lose in the Chattooga game, Dade will play again on Tuesday, Feb. 14 in either the championship game or consolation game.
Good luck to the Wolverines as they head to the region tournament.