By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Hayesville fell behind 17-2, fought back to within a single basket, and then went cold Tuesday in Mount Airy as the Granite Bears eliminated the defending state champs, 62-45, from the North Carolina Athletic Association Men’s Class 1-A Basketball Tournament.
“In the third quarter, I thought we were in the ballgame. I thought we did a great job of scrapping, getting back in it,” Hayesville Coach Mike Cottrell said. “They were a talented team, they shot the ball better than we thought they could. We just didn’t have an answer for that. Every time we went to the line, we missed. We had open shots, we missed. They capitalized on that.”
For whatever reason — poor lighting, over-effusive public address announcer, dingy dressing room, worn rims, four-and-a-half hour bus ride, poor lighting, whatever — Hayesville couldn’t hit the broadside of Floyd’s Barbershop in the town that inspired Andy Griffith’s Mayberry.
Some credit must go to Mount Airy’s defense, which forced the Yellow Jackets to hurry several shots, especially from long distance.
There weren’t enough second chances. The Granite Bears controlled the boards, limiting Hayesville to a dozen offensive rebounds. On the other end of the floor, Mount Airy got two, even three shots, on more than one occasion,
Still, the Yellow Jackets offense worked. The ball just wouldn’t consistently go down.
Cade Denton was the only Yellow Jacket to shoot better than 50 percent, of players who took 2 or more shots. He was 0-of-1 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 2-of-2 of at the line.
The Yellow Jackets made just 1-of-4 from the field, 2-of-6 from the line and missed both three-point attempts during the crucial fourth quarter. The final stats weren’t much better. Hayesville made just 6-of-20 two-point tries, 10-of-18 from behind the arch, and 10-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Four of those eight misses were the front end of one-and-ones; eight potential points were lost at the charity stripe in the fourth.
Hayesville entered the final act down, 47-37 and never got within single digits.
Enough about what went wrong. Hayesville’s first-half comeback was spectacular.
Mount Airy came out hotter than a fresh-baked Aunt Bea apple pie, but the Yellow Jackets never trembled.
Hayesville trailed 13-0 and then 17-5 before the Yellow Jackets dive bombed their hosts.
The uprising began when Logan Caldwell rainbowed a three-pointer, stole the ball and rifled home another three-ball to cut the lead to 17-8.
The Granite Bears, to their credit, remained calm, worked the clock to near exhaustion and then busted a three at the buzzer for a 20-8 first-quarter lead.
Mount Airy upped the ante to 22-8, but Hayesville answered when Isaac Chandler powered the ball through the rim, only to see the basket erased by an offensive foul call.
Undaunted, Caldwell stormed into the lane to cut the lead to 22-10 and then drilled a homerun to make it 22-13. Kyle Lunsford’s free throw pulled Hayesville to within 8.
Enter Denton, who provided a needed spark. Denton promptly slipped a pass to Taylor McClure, who scored with 3:14 on the first-half clock.
Mount Airy finally ended a 3:50 drought with a baseline bucket, but Hayesville kept pouring gas on the fire. Caldwell hit a jump shot and added 3 markers on a basket-and-foul and Denton aced 2 free ones to trim the lead to 26-23.
Ethan Hooper stepped up as Hayesville finished the half strong, drilling a three from the top of the key that narrowed the lead to 28-26 and adding two free throws after a head fake got him to the line.
Hayesville was within a bucket and then Mount Airy scored at the horn, again, to secure a 33-28 advantage at the intermission.
Hayesville’s vocal contingent of fans were pleased by the turnaround. Notice had been served that the Yellow Jackets had come to play.
Cottrell agreed, saying, “I felt like we had some things we could do.”
They did. Hayesville took good care of the ball and stayed close on two treys by Denton. Then little Mario Revels swished a pair of three-pointers and officials waved off Caldwell’s triple when they called McClure for an offensive foul.
Suddenly it was 53-37.
“We came out and executed pretty well. We got to the line a few times, got some open shots, just could never get the lead. We missed some shots and before you knew it the game was out of reach.”
Mount Airy’s impressive rebounding, coupled with Hayesville’s shooting woes, ensured that the Granite Bears stayed in control.
The loss leaves Hayesville with a final record of 14-12. Mount Airy is 12-13. How the Granite Bears lost 13 is a mystery bigger than why Ellie Walker left Mayberry.
Caldwell led Hayesville with 17 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Hooper finished with 11 points and two rebounds. Denton had 8 points and three boards. McClure kicked in 4 points and two rebounds. Slade Crouch made his only shot and finished with 3 points. Lunsford scored 2 and had three rebounds.
Seth Hedden added three boards and a blocked shot. Chandler had two rebounds and a point. Asher Brown cleared three rebounds.
“We just didn’t play well enough to win,” Coach Cottrell remarked. “It’s tough when it’s the last game, but that’s the truth, you have to play better in the playoffs if you want to win.”