By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
A 3-point buzzer-beater torpedoed a spirited Hayesville comeback and sealed a 27-24 junior varsity girls basketball victory for Cherokee on Tuesday.
The comeback began with Hayesville trailing 24-17 early in the fourth quarter. Olivia Free lit the fuse with a 3-pointer and three rebounds in :35 — all by Aaliyah Jackson — kept Hayesville on track. The third board led to a ‘swishsational’ 3-pointer from the corner by Danielle Anderson that cut Cherokee’s lead to 24-23.
The Lady Braves had the chance to up the lead with two free throws, but missed both and Hayesville’s Ava Moore rebounded the second clank.
Next, Micalynn McClure slipped a slick bounce pass to Anderson, who was fouled in the act of shooting. Anderson’s second free throw found the bottom of the net and tied the score at 24-all with 1:43 left to play.
A Cherokee miss rebounded by Kara Bauer at 1:00 gave Hayesville hope, but the Lady Jackets couldn’t tally and the Lady Braves grabbed the board.
Cherokee went for the win with an off target 3-pointer, but a Lady Brave saved the ball from going out of bounds and the hosts called timeout with :04.7 remaining and the score still tied. Overtime seemed inevitable, but the aforementioned last-second shot from above the key resulted in the first loss of the year for Hayesville (2-1).
Hayesville trailed 11-4 after one quarter but overtook Cherokee with 8 unanswered points on a 3-pointer by McClure off a feed from Moore and 2 freebies and a triple by Jackson.
The game was tied 16-16 at the half but Cherokee took control in the third quarter and held a 22-17 lead entering the last act.
Jackson led Hayesville with 10 rebounds and 7 points. Anderson added 6 points and six rebounds. McClure contributed 5 points, four rebounds and two steals. Free had 3 points and two steals. Moore had five rebounds and 2 points. Bauer cleared two caroms.