By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Monday, Hayesville’s boys gave Coach Mike Cottrell the four quarters of aggressive, smart, efficient basketball he’s been looking for, but the Yellow Jackets lost a 56-53 heart-breaker to Andrews despite what may have been their best effort of the season.
Hayesville, 11-12 overall, 5-8 conference, led most of the way but failed to score during the final two minutes of a bonafide barn burner even though the Jackets made big plays during crunch time of the Smoky Mountain Conference showdown.
An inspired third quarter, 3-of-3 from the field, 3-of-6 from the line, five defensive rebounds and three steals, that ended with a resounding bang produced an eight-point Hayesville advantage entering the last quarter.
In the final 1:40 of the third, Rhett Sellers broke a 40-all tie with a slick reverse lay-up. Hayesville then upped the ante to 48-40 as Damien Soto dropped a three; Jackson Sellers grabbed a rebound, was fouled and hit a free throw and Kabe Shaheen boldly swiped the ball and took it to the bank.
Three minutes into the final stanza, Andrews turned the tables with eight unanswered points. Another trey – the Wildcats’ ninth — at the 4:44 mark stretched the Wildcats lead to 53-49.
Jackson Sellers’ put back cut the lead to 53-51, and Jax’s hard-fought rebound on the defensive end paved the way for Action Jackson’s game-tying hoop on a spin move off a Brady Reynolds’ dime with 2:00 remaining.
The final 120 seconds were both wild and bewildering as Hayesville doggedly break down on a door that would not open.
At 1:43, Shaheen disrupted an Andrews dribble and tipped the ball to Jackson for a steal, but Hayesville didn’t score. Twenty seconds later, Reynolds blocked a shot, but the Jackets were whistled for traveling and Andrews scored on a pull-up jumper for a 55-53 lead.
A word about traveling – the Jackets were whistled for carrying the ball eight times and at least two of those calls were debatable.
The Jackets tried to close the gap in the waning seconds, but two missed free throws — the second on purpose, which Andrews rebounded – doomed the comeback.
Hayesville had one final gasp after Andrews increased the lead to 56-53 with a free throw. With just three ticks left, Jackson attempted a long inbound pass from under the Andrews basket, but Andrews blocked the fling – twice.
Jackson’s stat line testified to an outstanding effort – team highs in points, 14; rebounds, eight; charges taken, two and shooting, 2-of-3 from the floor; 2-of-4 from distance; 4-of-6 from the line. Big 33 also had two assists.
Brother Rhett also sparkled in his first varsity start with eight points, 3-of-6 from behind the arch and two assists.
Reynold’s scored seven of Hayesville’s 11 points in the second quarter and finished with 13, on 2-of-4 from the field, to go with four caroms and three assists.
Shaheen played a brilliant floor game, scoring nine points on 3-of-4 from the field, swiping the ball three times, dishing two dimes and snatching a couple of boards.
Soto collected eight boards, seven points, two steals and hit 2-of-5 from the hinterlands.
Monday was one of Hayesville’s best shooting nights. The Jackets drained 10-of-18 from the field and a respectable 8-of-22 from the downtown. The only demerit: 9-of-18 free throws. Seven of those the nine misses occurred in the second half.
Hayesville’s showing, while a defeat, was the second consecutive impressive showing by a team led by the Sellers boys.
Robbinsville 65, Hayesville 44
The Sellers boys dented the armor, but Robbinsville’s Black Knights wielded a sword and a lance to cut down Hayesville’s varsity boys, 65-44, Friday in Smoky Mountain Conference play.
Senior center Jackson Sellers, 10 rebounds, three take charges, 3-for-4 field goal shooting, physical play underneath, and freshman guard Rhett Sellers, team-high 14 points, two steals, two assists, two rebounds, 2-of-4 from behind the three-point line, brave drives to the basket against Robbinsville’s trees, played like warriors.
Sellers times two needed to come up big since E.J. Abrams was sidelined with a foot injury and Brendan Lynch was held out due to cracking his head on the floor in the previous game.
The Yellow Jackets lost the lead for good 4:41 into the game when Dane Knott stroked a three-pointer to give the guests an 8-6 advantage.
Oh, what a Knight Knott proved to be. Robbinsville’s fair-haired kid answered every time Hayesville came knocking.
In the second quarter, when a Reynolds’ three-ball and Rhett’s theft and free throw trimmed the lead from 7 to 3, Knott drove, drew a foul and iced two freebies that began a run of six unanswered Black Knights points.
Knott struck again in the third after Jackson grabbed a board and muscled through bodies to score and Micah Moss hauled in Soto’s baseball pass for a fast break lay-up. Hayesville’s mini rally cut the lead to 32-26, but Knott hit a free toss and scored on a run out a minute later to ease the lead to 35-28.
The later play kicked off an 11-3 that gave Robbinsville a safe 46-31 lead after three.
The game should have been much closer going into the fourth act. Hayesville sputtered during the last 2:00 of the third act with three turnovers, 0-for-4 free throwing and bad clock management during the final ticks that resulted in a wild three attempt at the horn.
A second villain — 6-foor-2 Kristian Bauzo – made sure the Jackets didn’t storm the castle by repeatedly busting into the paint and drawing fouls that he turned into seven points via free throws. For good measure, the big guy also hit a three-ball and a field goal.
It was Bauzo’s second boffo quarter. Bauzo scored six points on twos and five on free throws in the eight minutes preceding halftime.
Bauzo finished with 13-of-14 free throw shooting and 29 points.
Bauzo and Knott were a battering ram and a trebuchet. Still, Hayesville fought valiantly to defend the home court but was undone by friendly misfire. The jackets made just 30 percent from the field, 19 percent from three-point range and 54 percent from the charity line.
On a positive note, three Jackets sacrificed their bodies to take charges – Jackson Sellers, three; Shaheen and Reynolds.
Reynolds also tallied 10 points, three rebounds and blocked a shot.
Moss was 2-for-3 for four points. Soto had five points, five rebounds, three steals and to points. Landon Trout added five points and three boards. Wes Jennings tallied three rebounds and two makers in just barely two minutes.
Cherokee 83, Hayesville 65
Cherokee’s boys were surely thinking ‘W’ when they extended their lead to 24 points midway through the third quarter Wednesday in a Smoky Mountain Conference matchup at Darryl K. McClure Gymnasium.
Hayesville’s boys must have been thinking, ‘We can do this.’
Cherokee finished with more points, but Hayesville repeatedly displayed more heart. A few of the most memorable moments:
• Reynolds following his shot with muscle and determination, fighting through two defenders, wrestling the rebound away from them and depositing the rock.
• Jackson Sellers sacrificing his body by drawing not one, not two, but three charging fouls.
• Sellers zipping into the lane, protecting the ball as he spun to the hoop and tossing the ball over a taller defender to tally two as the defense collapsed on him.
• Soto head faking, spinning into the paint and through a double-team to lay in a one-hander.
• Shaheen boldly driving into the paint and sliding the ball off the glass and into the hole as he sailed under the net.
• Moss swiping the rock and dribbling through a two-Brave squeeze.
• Brendan Lynch finding a cutting Soto with a perfect ‘eyes in the back of my head’ assist.
• Trout muscling through Cherokee’s bigs and showing emotion as he claimed a rebound.
Even Coach Mike Cottrell channeled his inner Doberman. Cottrell drew a technical foul when he sounded off during a questionable call three minutes into the second quarter.
Unfortunately, the Jackets were in deep trouble by the time they ratcheted up their intensity.
Hayesville was within a point, 6-5, when Cherokee closed out the first quarter with a 19-4 run the Jackets never recovered from.
My how they tried.
The Jackets canned 5-of-8 field goals in the second quarter, yet trailed by 19, 38-19, at the intermission. Hayesville stayed hot with 6-of-10 marksmanship in the third act but were behind by 21, 62-41, entering the fourth.
Still, Cottrell’s Commandos kept churning and burning for victory.
That was obvious when the Yellow Jackets pumped in nine unanswered points to cut the lead to 62-49 a minute-and-a-half into the final act.
The uprising was a thing of beauty that began when Rhett Sellers entered the game late in the third quarter.
Penetration by Rhett resulted in a free throw and then a bucket during the run, in which Jackson Sellers cashed in a rebound and Damien Soto drained a three-ball from the corner to account for the nine markers.
The Jackets continued to fight after Cherokee ended a 2:26 deep freeze with 6:00 left to play and then matched the Jackets deuce for deuce to the finish line.
Hayesville might have prevailed with a better start. Then again, 3-of-15 shooting from three-point range and 20 turnovers wreaked havoc with comeback hopes.
Reynolds led Hayesville with 21 points, rebounds and four thefts. Soto racked up 14 points and four boards. Shaheen tallied 13 to go with four assists and a pair of steals. The Sellers boys both scored eight. Jackson added 11 boards.