ROAN MOUNTAIN – The Chuckey-Doak boys basketball team found new life in the second half on Monday night and ran away from Cloudland on the way to a 69-34 win.
The Black Knights trailed for the first 14 minutes of Monday, but after taking the lead into halftime they outscored the Highlanders 42-14 in the second half to start the week with a convincing win.
“We had too many turnovers in the first half, and we have to get off to better starts because it’s hard to come back every night,” Chuckey-Doak coach Sam Broyles said. “Our defense got better in the second half. Our defensive pressure was the difference in the second half. We had some guys come off the bench and do a really good job. They gave us great effort, then Ryland (Grindstaff) started scoring, and that got us going.”
In the early going of Monday’s contest Chuckey-Doak found itself in a 7-2 hole after Bryce Birchfield drained a three-pointer.
After a steal by Knox McAmis led to Logan Malone going to the free-throw line where he made one of two the Highlanders’ lead was down to 8-7. Cloudland’s Uriah Jarrett and Chuckey-Doak’s Dom Atchison traded three-pointers to keep it a one-point game.
In the final 34 seconds of the first quarter Jarrett scored three more points for Cloudland to push the lead to 14-10.
Jarrett extended that lead to 16-10 with a driving layup early in the second quarter, but then Chuckey-Doak began to pick things up on the defensive end of the floor. Over the final 6:30 of the first half the Black Knights allowed just one made field goal.
With 5:07 left in the period Atchison found Jake Broyles open in the corner for a triple that closed the gap to 16-14. Mason Henderson then tied things with a jumper from the elbow.
With 2:18 left to play in the second quarter Chuckey-Doak took the lead for the first time and never gave it back when Ryland Grindstaff connected on a pair of free throws.
On the next possession Grindstaff went down the baseline and curled in a shot from under the hoop for a 20-16 lead. Then at the buzzer Grindstaff knocked down a fade-away trey that put Chuckey-Doak on top 27-20.
After playing catch-up for almost the whole first half the Knights had a little breathing room to start the third quarter.
“It was big to get the lead going into halftime. And we know we are better than what showed in the first half. We were lucky to be in that position, but we can’t start that slow,” Broyles said.
Just over two minutes into the second half Grindstaff found Atchison open in the paint, and his layup pushed the lead to double digits at 31-21.
By the midway point in the period that lead grew to 35-21 after Malone put back a miss.
Cloudland struggled to find good looks on offense largely because of the defensive pressure provided by Jake Broyles. Broyles took over guarding Jarrett and mirrored him for all 84 feet. That kept Cloudland’s top scorer out of the scoring column in the second half, and disrupted the Highlander’s offensive rhythm.
“That defense by Jake was key, because (Jarrett) pretty much dominated the first half,” coach Broyles said. “That defensive pressure in the third quarter was the difference in the ball game.”
After Ben Palazzo reeled off six points Chuckey-Doak’s lead reached 46-26 when Malone scored in transition.
Chuckey-Doak went into the fourth quarter leading 48-28.
Atchison started the final frame by driving through traffic and scoring three points the hard way. In the fourth quarter Chuckey-Doak followed with three-pointers from McAmis, Grindstaff and Braxton Lowe as they finished the night leading 69-34.
Grindstaff led all scorers on Monday with 20 points while Atchison put in 14 points. In total 11 different players scored for Chuckey-Doak in the win.
Jarrett finished the day with 12 points for Chuckey-Doak.
GIRLS
CLOUDLAND 63, CHUCKEY-DOAK 26
Cloudland’s high-pressure defense caused all sorts of problems for Chuckey-Doak on Monday night, and the Lady Black Knights suffered a 63-26 loss in Roan Mountain.
Chuckey-Doak did score first on Monday when Jayden Myers made a free throw, but that lead lasted 11 seconds. Going the other way Reagan Blair got inside and drew contact for an old-fashioned-three-point play.
The Lady Highlanders used turnovers to gain extra possessions and scored at a high rate in the opening frame. Seven different players found the bottom of the net for Cloudland with Makinna Shell dropping in six points. Just before the horn Emily Forbes hit from beyond the arc to push the lead to 22-9.
Chuckey-Doak got five points from Cristen Bishop in the opening frame.
Cloudland’s tough defense led to more offense in the second quarter and it scored the first 17 points of the frame to extend the lead to 38-9. The run started with Blair using a pair of steals to set up Savannah McCoury and Jayla Harper for layups.
Triples from Jadyn Whitley and Reagan Turbyfill capped the Lady Highlanders’ run.
Chuckey-Doak’s only points came with 17 seconds left when Carlene Bishop rattled in a triple.
Cloudland led 39-12 at halftime.
Myers sank a floater to get Chuckey-Doak on the board first in the second half, but then Cloudland’s lead reached 44-14 when Eowyn McCoury scored on a fast-break layup.
Hayleigh Seidl scored four points in the period for Chuckey-Doak, but the game went to its final frame with Cloudland leading 49-21.
Chuckey-Doak managed just five points in the fourth quarter, a layup by Myers and a triple from Carlene Bishop. Cloudland got five points from Shell in the period as it extended the lead to 63-26.
Shell led Cloudland with 13 points and McCoury had 10 points.
Carlene Bishop and Myers both scored eight points for Chuckey-Doak.
