By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Hayesville’s jayvees rallied from an 8-point first-quarter deficit to take the lead just before halftime at Andrews Monday, but couldn’t hang onto the lead in a hard-fought, 36-30, loss.
The Jackets most magical moment came when Micah Moss snared a rebound and rifled the ball up court to Carson Finn for a picture-perfect fast break layup that gave Hayesville its only lead, 18-17, :02 before the intermission.
A pair of Andrews three-pointers early in the second half returned the lead to the hosts and Hayesville could get no closer than four the rest of the way as top producers Wes Jennings and Rhett Sellers were kept out so they could play in the varsity game.
Still, the Jackets made things interesting after falling behind 35-25 with just 2:30 remaining.
A steal by Eli Cheeks and a long pass to Byron Engelmann for an and-one layup pushed Hayesville to 28 on the scoreboard. A minute later, Engelmann stole the ball, then scored on a beautiful spin move to make it a 35-30 game.
Time simply ran out of Hayesville, which had hope in the final minute thanks for three rebounds by Fansiscoi Rios.
Englemann, who had five points in the final eight minutes, finished with nine points. Peyton Cordell tallied five, all in the final period. Jennings also tallied five. He and Cheeks led the rebound department with four each. Cheeks also had two assists.
Carson Finn had four points; Sellers three on two shots; Moss two on two shots and Cheeks two.
Robbinsville 60, Hayesville 34
Cheeks led Hayesville 12 points against Robbinsville’s undefeated JV boys on Friday.
Six Black Knights scored at least eight points in a game that was only close for one quarter.
Sellers and Engelmann both scored twice in the first quarter and Robbinsville clung to a 14-11 lead entering the second.
The Black Knights pulled away for a 31-19 halftime lead as Sellers and Jennings sat so they could play in the varsity game.
Jennings finished with eight points on 6-of-6 free throwing in two quarters of play while Sellers added five in one quarter. Moss had three points and did not play in the second half.
Hayesville’s scoring included four from Engelmann and two by Finn.
Cherokee 40, Hayesville 31
Jennings went nutso on Cherokee with seven points, three defensive rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal during the final period last Wednesday, but his Hurculean efforts weren’t enough to bring the Jackets a victory.
Jennings paced Hayesville with 11 points. Sellers and Engelmann had nine apiece. Cheeks contributed two.
Hayesville 51, Rosman 17
The Jackets held a 7-6 hold after the first quarter, then used a barrage of free throws to bust the game open and balanced scoring and three-point drilling to bury the host Tigers on Feb. 3.
Hayesville zipped to a 15-6 halftime advantage by making seven free throws — for by Cheeks — while holding Rosman to a single point in the second quarter.
The Jackets upped their lead to 32-15 entering the final act as five players scored with Sellers leading the way with seven points.
The final stanza was a banquet of long balls as Jennings, Engelmann, Cordell and E.J. Hughes all went Boom Baby.
Jennings had nine rebounds.
Cheeks and Jennings led all scorers with 10. Cordell finished with eight, Sellers and Engelmann seven a piece, Hughes, four; Moss, two; Rios, two and Finn, one.