Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Ava Moore, No. 42, punishes Hiwassee Dam's defense with a basket as Bryleigh Krieger, No. 10, establishes position.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
The Hayesville varsity girls basketball team will shoot for offensive consistency during a stretch of three games in five days beginning with a visit from Franklin on Thursday.
“We have to get more efficient offensively to win close games,” says Hayesville Coach Chad McClure.
Hayesville was a bit shaky the last time the Lady Jackets hit the hardwood. Getting just 3 points off the bench, and shooting 24 percent from the field, 19 percent from three-point range, and 50 percent from the free throw line didn’t get the job done on Tuesday, Jan. 7 when Hiwassee Dam prevailed 49-42.
“Hiwassee Dam is a solid team,” McClure said. “They shot the ball much better than we did and that was the main difference in the game.”
The foundation for the win was a 17-9 first quarter by the Eagles. The Lady Jackets cut the lead to 21-15 by halftime and came out with an aggressive, attacking offense in the second half by couldn’t overtake the visitors. Olivia McNabb made sure of that by scoring 11 points of her game-high 25 points in the third quarter.
Hayesville reached the charity stripe six times in the final two quarters, but missed 5 of 11 tries, which just happened to be the margin of victory.
It was Hiwassee Dam’s turn to shoot freebies in the fourth period and the Eagles were even worse. They made 7-of-14.
Yes, there were opportunities for a Hayesville upset.
The fact that Hayesville (4-6 overall, 1-1 conference) remained within striking distance of the talented Eagles (9-2 overall, 1-1 conference) speaks volumes about how hard the Lady Jackets played. You don’t steal the ball 12 times by playing lackadaisically. Briley Clampitt had four of those picks, Bryleigh Krieger three.
Krieger also led Hayesville in rebounding with seven. She was one of two Lady Jackets to shoot 50 percent from the field.
“Krieger has been playing well for us lately,” McClure stated.
Special K has to be on her game since Brooke Graves’ minutes are down because of a hip injury.
With Graves out of the front-court rotation, Hayesville has relied more on Mallory Peck and her backups Ava Moore and Kayla Brown. All three responded against Hiwassee Dam.
“I thought Ava Moore and Kayla gave us solid minutes off the bench with Mallory in foul trouble,” McClure said.
Peck canned 2-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe for 6 points, cleared four rebounds and had two steals and just one turnover.
Ava Shook led Hayesville in scoring for the seventh time this season, tallying 13 points while running the offense. The hard working junior who’s two, two, two guards in one (point guard and shooting guard) shot 43 percent from the field, handed out six assists, snared five rebounds and sparked Hayesville’s comeback attempt.
“Ava Shook played well late in the fourth,” McClure stated.
The Hayesville effort included 6 points and four boards by Clampitt and 10 points from Emma Ashe, who also had two rebounds and two steals. Breanna Abrams contributed four boards. Graves added a pair of rebounds.
The road ahead brings Franklin (Thursday), Summit Charter (Friday) and Andrews (Tuesday) to Hayesville. Franklin and Andrews are both one game above .500. Summit Charter is 2-6.