Two of the top 10 ranked teams in Class 1A battled in Baileyton on Saturday night when Cloudland (10) met North Greene (8).
Back in January the Lady Highlanders got the win up on Roan Mountain, but James Buchanan and his Lady Huskies were looking for revenge and a conference win in the friendly confines of Jerome Woolsey Gymnasium. They got both, avenging the earlier loss by collecting a 41-30 win.
Buchanan said after the big District 1-1A win, “Man it’s tough in this league, it doesn’t matter where you’re at or who you’re playing it’s just hard. I’m just real proud of the girls’ effort tonight and glad to get out with a big conference win. We never got into a good rhythm when we played up there, tonight I think we were in good rhythm but we had a hard time getting shots to fall, but that’s make defense that much more important.”
The first quarter was a defensive struggle on both ends of the court. The Lady Huskies took the early lead at 8-3 with back-to-back triple by Eva Leonard and Ella Head respectively. The Lady Landers would tie the score at 8-8 as the quarter ended.
Head made a pair at the line and Leonard rattled home another triple from the top of the key as the second period got underway, but Ewoyn McCurry kept the Lady Landers close with a three.
Natalie Foshie hit a turnaround jumper in the lane and Josie Graham finished the quarter with a easy layup on a pass from Tralyn Southerland as the Lady Huskies took a three point lead at the break, 17-14.
The first six minutes of the third quarter saw a little more offense from both teams and Cloudland actually took a brief lead until Graham drilled a triple for the top of the key.
Southerland made a couple of free throws and Leonard nailed a triple form the elbow with 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give the Lady Huskies a six point lead. Jayla Harper made one of two free throws with one second showing on the scoreboard, but North Greene would enjoy a 29-24 lead headed to the final frame.
The Lady Highlanders cut the lead to three twice before Addi Dean came off the bench to hit what might have been the biggest shot of the night for the Lady Huskies, a triple from the elbow to increase the advantage back to six points at 34-28. That big bucket seamed to ignite the defense with North Greene holding the Lady Landers to only one made basket over the final seven minutes.
The Lady Huskies were able to make the free throws down the stretch and win by 11 at 41-30.
With the win North Greene improves to 4-2 in league play heading into the closing stretch of the regular season. Cloudland is now 3-2 and both teams trail 5-1 Unaka.
NORTH GREENE – Leonard 9, Southerland 9, Head 8, Graham 7, Foshie 4, Dean 3
CLOUDLAND- Shell 9, Jones 5, EMcCurry 5, SMcCurry 4, Clawson 2, Blair 2
BOYS
NORTH GREENE 72, CLOUDLAND 52
The nightcap saw the North Greene boys start off slow but finish fast en route to a 20 point victory over Cloudland, 72-52.
The Huskies night didn’t start as good as one might expect by just looking at the final score. Huskies head coach Matt Weems said, “I thought we came out in the first half and settled for quick shots. We didn’t do a very god job of attacking the zone and we got into a little foul trouble.”
The Huskies trailed by nine points after the first quarter at 18-9. Then Tyler Britton took over to start the second period, Britton drove the lane for a layup, got a put back and buried a triple from the elbow to draw the Huskies to within two at 18-16. That had the Huskies were right back in the thick of things before Thomas Darnell dropped a triple from the elbow to give the Huskies the lead. Moments later Darnell drove the lane for a layup and was fouled in the process, his free toss was good for the three-point play the hard way and the Huskies had a one point lead at the half at 25-24.
Isaac Gaby open the second half with a triple from behind the arc, Darnell was good from in front of the rim and Jaiden Bailey’s triple had the Huskies up 34-28.
Kingston Ricker got past the defense for an easy layup and Britton nailed another triple from the bend to give his team a nine-point lead with 2:25 to play in the third quarter. Britton then hit a runner in the lane and corner three top put the Huskies up 10 after three quarters at 50-40.
The fourth quarter belonged to Darnell, scoring 11 of his 23 points and extending the lead to 24 at one point. Weems went to his bench at the 3:05 mark and gave the starters the rest of the night off, letting the younger players gain some experience and finish out the game.
Darnell and Britton led the scoring effort with 23 and 22 points respectively.
Weems said “It was a pretty good night for them, I think it’s the first time this season they both were in the twenty’s. That’s a good recipe for success.”
NORTH GREENE- Darnell 23, Britton 22, Ricker 7, Bailey 7, Gaby 5, Eastep 4, Tolley 4
CLOUDLAND- Shell 20, Cole 6, Jarneth 12, Birchfield 2, Wilson 4, Carpenter 2, Brown 2, Hughes 4
