By: Eddy Gifford, Publisher

The Dade County Wolverine basketball team wrapped up the regular season last week by splitting a pair of region games. The Wolverines downed Pepperell at home and then fell to the Coosa Eagles in Rome on Friday night.

That could have been a tough loss for the Wolverines but they got some help from Model, who defeated Murray County to give Dade sole possession of second place in the region, first round bye in the region tournament and a guaranteed spot in the upcoming state tournament.

On Tuesday night the Wolverines hosted the Pepperell Dragons. Dade was looking for revenge from an earlier loss to the Dragons.

The Wolverines started off slow but still held a seven point lead at the end of  the first quarter, 16-9.

The Dragons rallied back however and by the end of the first half had managed to tie the game 27-27. They outscored the Wolverines 18-11 in the second quarter.

Dade began to take control in the third quarter as they slowly built a six point lead, 49-43.

The Wolverines broke the game open in the fourth quarter when they outscored the visiting Dragons 21-11 and claimed a big 70-54 win. That win assured the Wolverines at least a tie for second place in the region.

Cole Birchfield led the Wolverines with 30 points and he also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists. Clynt Bell was the only other Wolverine in double figures with 14 points while Dustin Howard and Jarrett Page grabbed 10 rebounds each.

Pepperell  9   18   16   11  54

Dade       16   11   22   21  70

Dade County (70)-Cole Birchfield 30, Stephens 2, Dustin Howard 12, Chitwood 1, Sharp, Smith, Clynt Bell 14, Gaddis 6, Walden, Page 5, Lawrence

Three Point Field Goals:  Dade 8 (Birchfield 3, Bell 4, Page)

Other highlights:  Birchfield 8r, 7a; Howard 10r; Page 10r

Traveling to Rome on Friday night for the final regular season game the Wolverines could claim second place in the region with a win over the Coosa Eagles but could end no worse than a tie and have to go to the tiebreaker.

The Wolverines fell behind early as the Eagles came out ready to play and at the end of the first quarter  Coosa was on top 22-16.

The Wolverines battled back and by the end of the first half had cut the Eagles lead in half, 44-41.

As has been the case on other occasions this season the third quarter would be the Wolverines downfall.

The Eagles came out firing and scored 28 third quarter points to the Wolverines 11 to take a commanding 72-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

While the Wolverines would cut into the lead from time to time the Eagles always managed to rally and came away with a big upset win, 109-89.

Just across town Model defeated Murray County to give the Wolverines sole possession of second place behind Calhoun and an automatic berth in the state tournament that starts next week.

Bell led the Wolverines with 30 points hitting nine three–point shots in the process while Birchfield scored 24 and Nic Gaddis added 11.

Birchfield and Howard grabbed 10 rebounds each and Page grabbed eight.

Dade    16   25   11   37    89

Coosa  22  22   28   37    109

Dade (89)-Cole Birchfield 24, Howard 9, Chitwood 2, Sharp 2, Clynt Bell 30, Nic Gaddis 11, Walden 5, Page 6

Three Point Field Goals:  Dade 13 (Birchfield 2, Bell 9, Gaddis, Walden)

Other highlights:  Birchfield 10r; Howard 10r; Page 8r (DC)

The region tournament gets underway at Georgia Highlands College on Tuesday night but Dade gets a bye until the Friday night semifinal game when they will face the winner of Model/Pepperell/Armuchee. Game time is 8:30 p.m.

A win Friday night would put the Wolverines hosting host a first round state tournament game next week. A win also puts them in the region final on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. against the Coosa/Murray/Chattooga/Coosa winner.

Should Dade lose their first game on Friday they would play at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon for third place and would travel in the first round of the state tournament.