Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville's Kadence Morrow, No. 4, throws herself into the fray in an attempt to wrestle a rebound away from Cherokee as Lady Yellow Jackets Jasmine Brooks, No. 3, and Ava Moore, No. 40, arrive to help.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
You can’t go 13-and-a-half minutes without scoring and expect to win.
Hayesville’s JV girls basketball team experienced that reality Tuesday when the Lady Yellow Jackets went 6:28 of the second quarter and all 7 minutes of the fourth period without a point as Cherokee triumphed, 31-14, in The Hive.
Kadence Morrow and Jasmine Brooks were the only Yellow Jackets to shoot .500 or better from the field. Morrow (2-of-4 from the field) had six steals, five points, two assists and two rebounds. Brooks hit her lone field goal attempt for 2 points in limited action. She also played in the varsity game.
Hayesville’s shooting woes were offset by scrappy defense. That was most obvious when the Yellow Jackets got serious about contesting long-distance shots after Cherokee made three three-pointers in the opening 3:20. The Braves went 0-of-10 from behind the stripe after Hayesville tightened its perimeter defense.
Meanwhile, Hayesville displayed decent shot selection but countless hosts rimmed out. The Lady Jackets made just 6-of-30 field goal tries, 2-of-8 from the charity stripe and 0-9 from three-point range.
Arctic shooting aside, there was no deep freeze when it came to effort.
Ava Moore had seven rebounds and 2 points. Lilly Dockery eight boards, Kylah Eller cleared three caroms and made two steals, Kayla Brown had four rebounds and Danielle Anderson scored 3 points.
Aaliyah Jackson scored 2 points and showed good ball handling. Olivia Free provided hustle in the back court.
Hayesville’s best quarter came in the third when the Lady Jackets outscored the Braves, 6-4, with two buckets and two free throws.
Morrow had a hand in both baskets. First, she grabbed a defensive rebound and passed to Brooks for a fast break lay-up. Later, she boldly drove into the paint and tickled the twine.
The free throws came from Morrow and Anderson.