ERIWN – For the fourth-straight season Chuckey-Doak couldn’t get past Gatlinburg-Pittman and suffered a 66-41 season-ending loss in the Region 1-2A semifinals on Monday night at Unicoi County High School.
“You’re never really ready for it to be over. Especially when you have a great group that you like. And the better you are it seems like the more sudden and abrupt the season ends. Obviously, you come into this game and you’ve got game plans and what not and then you end up losing it’s gut wrenching,” Head Coach Kyle Donahue stated.
After a poor shooting performance in the first quarter, the Lady Black Knights fell too far behind and could never catch up. Only one made field goal and 2-of-6 free-throw shooting caused them to fall into a 21-point hole after the first quarter. The final margin would only be 26 points, proving they held their own for the final three quarters, but one bad quarter was the difference maker.
In their final game, Chuckey-Doak’s four seniors Kennedy Brown, Layla Fox, Saniah Atchison, and Tavyn Southerland combined for 31 of their 41 points. Brown led them with a game-high 16 points. Southerland had 8, Fox had 6, and Atchison had 1. “It’s significant. Nobody wanted to lose and the seniors wanted to leave on a high note. That’s good for them to really pick up the scoring,” Coach Donahue mentioned.
Their season came to an end with a 16-14 (7-3) record. They finished regular season and tournament runner ups. They achieved 48 wins in their three years under Coach Donahue.
“As we get further away from this game, we’ll see that the seniors left a lasting legacy on our program. We’re thankful for the entire group and how hard they worked to go to two region semifinals in three years. That can’t be understated,” Donahue said. “They’ve shown tremendous leadership this year both on and off the court. They’re a tight-knit group of seniors and brought everybody along together. I couldn’t be prouder of what they’ve done for us basketball wise and a program as a whole.”
From the get go it was Gatlinburg-Pittman seemingly having their way. Maliyah Glasper stripped the ball away and sprinted for a layup and started a 13-0 run before Chuckey-Doak could respond. Kennedy Brown made a pair of foul shots to get them on the board. Back-to-back layups from Chloe Mejias and five-straight from GG Cameron created a 9-0 run before they could respond again. Brown landed a baseline jumper this time. Addi Wear sank a three-pointer to end the frame.
Chuckey-Doak trailed 25-4 after the first.
The second quarter featured a huge scoreless drought with neither team scoring any field goals for 3+ minutes. Isabelle Karriker was first to break the scoreless spell when she stepped into a layup. Brown scored with a transition layup next. Glasper scored five-straight with a triple and layup combo. Tillie Trentham knocked down a three to cap off a 10-0 Lady Highlanders run. Tavyn Southerland ended the half with an and-one play.
G-P went into halftime leading 37-11.
They extended the lead more with a layup by Ellie Rowland and a three from Cheyenne Byrd. Kennedy Brown and Layla Fox worked together to put together a 5-0 run with a triple and layup. Maliyah Glasper hit a three in response and Brown responded by doing the same. A cool little 7-0 run from Chuckey-Doak drew them a bit closer, but still not close enough to make it a manageable deficit. Tralyn Southerland, Kennedy Brown, and Tavyn Southerland made a layup each. Saniah Atchison secured a free throw to cap it.
Chloe Mejias scored five-straight to end G-P’s scoring in the third. They led Chuckey-Doak 52-31 after three. She carried that run into the fourth and scored five-straight again to end with ten-straight for G-P.
Any time Chuckey-Doak could get a field goal to fall, G-P was there to respond back. They never could get within striking distance and suffered a season-ending 66-41 defeat in the end.
Kennedy Brown led all scorers with 16 points. Chloe Mejias scored 14 to lead G-P and Maliyah Glasper had 13.
Chuckey-Doak’s seniors reflected on their time in black & gold.
“This program has taught me a lot about myself. My teammates challenged me every day to be a better person. Not only on the court, but in life. I really will miss it,” Saniah Atchison said.
“It’s meant a lot to me. Playing with all of my friends and stuff has been a lot of fun,” Kennedy Brown stated.
“Going to practice every day and stuff has been like an automatic friend. You don’t have to worry about hanging out with people, you’re at practice with your friends every day. I’m glad I came back,” Layla Fox expressed.
“I’m going to miss every single one of them,” Tavyn Southerland ended with.
