By: Eddy Gifford, Publisher

The Wolverine basketball team had a busy week, playing three games, two of which were on the road, but still managed to come away with a pair of wins.

On Tuesday Dade traveled to Chatsworth to face the Murray County Indians in a key region game.

The game was back and forth in the first half as the Indians were up 15-14 at the end of the first quarter and up 28-27 at the end of the first half.

The wheels came off for the Wolverines in the third quarter as the Indians outscored the visiting Wolverines 24-14 to take a 52-41 lead heading into the final quarter. Dade tried to rally but came up short and fell to the host Indians 75-62.

Cole Birchfield led the Wolverines with 23 points followed by Clynt Bell with 20 and Dustin Howard finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Birchfield also had seven rebounds and Jarrett Page grabbed eight rebounds.

Dade       14   13   14   21  62

Murray    15   13   24   23  75

Dade (62)-Cole Birchfield 23, Howard 9, Chitwood, Sharp, Lawrence, Smith, Clynt Bell 20, Gaddis 4, Walden 5, Cole, Page 1

Three Point Field Goals:  Dade 8 (Birchfield, Bell 6, Walden)

Other highlights:  Birchfield 7r; Howard 7r; Page 8r (DC)

On Friday night the Wolverines traveled to Summerville to face the Chattooga Indians in another region game and came out and took the early lead, 22-10.

While the Indians played better in the second quarter Dade still outscored them 22-17 to take a 44-27 halftime lead.

A fast–paced third quarter saw both teams score 23 points leaving the Wolverines up 67-50 heading into the final eight minutes of play.

The Wolverines were lights out in the fourth quarter burning the nets for 29 points to claim an easy 96-61 win over the host Indians.

Birchfield again led the Wolverines with 32 points followed by Bell with 27, hitting seven three point shots. Howard scored 12 and Nic Gaddis scored 10 for the Wolverines.

Birchfield and Howard grabbed nine and eight rebounds respectively.

Dade         22  22  23  29   96

Chattooga  10   17 23 11   61

Dade (96)-Mai, Cole Birchfield 32, Stephens 6, Castleberry, Dustin Howard 12,Chitwood 2, Sharp 2, Lawrence 1, Smith 2, Clynt Bell 27, Nic Gaddis 10, Walden 2, Cole, Page

Three Point Field Goals:  Dade 11 (Birchfield 2, Stephens 2, Bell

Other highlights:  Birchfield 9r, 6a; Howard 8r; Chitwood 6r (DC)

On Saturday afternoon the Wolverines hosted the Coosa Eagles in a key region game as both teams entered the game with 7-4 region records and tied for second place.

Dade jumped out to the early lead as Gaddis hit a pair of free throws and Birchfield hit a pair of three point shots for an 8-2 with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.

The Wolverines hot shooting controlled the first quarter as they outscored the visiting Eagles 21-13.

The Eagles came to life in the second quarter to erase the Wolverine lead. Dade was up 30-22 with 2:35 remaining in the half when the Eagles scored eight straight points to tie the game at 30 with 14 seconds left.

With two seconds left Birchfield was fouled and he hit both free throws to give the Wolverines a 32-20 lead.

The Eagles scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 37-32 lead and after swapping baskets over the next five minutes the Eagles still lead 42-41.

Dade turned the game in their favor in the final three minutes of the third quarter when they scored 10 straight points to take a 51-42 lead. The Eagles closed out the quarter with seven straight to close the gap to 51-49 heading into the fourth quarter.

Dade scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to go up 55-49 and never trailed again as the Eagles couldn’t get any closer.

When the final buzzer sounded the Wolverines had a big 71-65 win to claim sole possession of second place in region play with two games left.

Birchfield capped off a big week with 40 points. Gaddis scored 11 in the win and Howard grabbed 10 rebounds.

In the three games last week Birchfield scored 95 points.

Coosa    13   17   19   16   65

Dade     21   11   19   20   71

Dade (71)-Cole Birchfield 40, Howard 5, Chitwood 1, Sharp, Smith 2, Bell 7, Nic Gaddis 11, Walden, Cole, Page 5

Three Point Field Goals:  Dade 6 (Birchfield 4, Bell, Page)

Other highlights:  Howard 10r; Chitwood 6r (DC)

The Wolverines have a pair of games this week before heading to Rome next week for the region tournament at Georgia Highlands College.

The Wolverines are currently in second place with games remaining against Pepperell that was played last night and a big game at Coosa on Friday. If the Wolverines win out they will claim second place in region and get a first round bye in the tournament and a guaranteed spot in the upcoming state tournament.