Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville's Jacob McClure, No. 22, has a hairy experience as he starts the Hayesville fast break with Jackson Sellers, No. 33.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Hayesville wasn’t ready for a taller, more-experienced, fast-breaking, long-distance gunning, full-court pressing team, but the Yellow Jackets didn’t quit in a 76-56 loss to undefeated Franklin.
“We are learning as we go,” Hayesville Coach Mike Cottrell stated. “Saw some good things to build on. Also a few things we need to do much better. I’m looking forward to the season journey with these guys. Fun group.”
Hayesville’s fun lessened considerably when Franklin broke open a close game with 7 unanswered points, prompting Cottrell to call a timeout with the score 17-6 with 2:34 on the first period clock.
The sideline chat did not produce desired results for Hayesville.
The Panthers intercepted passes and drove for layups on Hayesville’s next two attempts to cross mid-court to extend the lead to 21-8.
Luke Lee’s spinning one-hander in the lane ended Hayesville’s 2:30 dry spell and Landon Hughes added a 3-pointer, but Franklin led 25-11 after one period.
“It was a tough start to the game,” Cottrell remarked. “We had some serious foul trouble early. After we settled down, I thought we played much better.”
The improvement was obvious early in the second quarter when Hughes busted a pair of home runs from behind the arc, the first coming on an assist from Lee, the second on a dime by Riley Rogers that cut Franklin’s lead to 25-17.
That’s as close as Hayesville would get. Franklin led 42-25 at halftime.
The Yellow Jackets came out of the locker room with renewed fervor, out-rebounding the Panthers 17-9 with Lee and Isaac Chandler each grabbing four boards and Jackson Sellers clearing three caroms.
Asher Brown had a bucket, a trey and two free throws for 7 points, but Hayesville’s comeback campaign was compromised by 1-of-9 shooting from the floor and 2-of-8 free throwing in the third act.
Franklin led 55-36 entering the fourth period.
Hayesville, 4-1, was led by Jacob McClure’s 25 points and four rebounds. Brown totaled 10 points. Hughes had 9 points and three rebounds. Lee had 6 points and nine rebounds. Chandler had 6 boards. Sellers grabbed five misses.
Hayesville 56, Summit Charter 14
Three days earlier, the Yellow Jackets ran their record to 4-0 with a 56-15 blowout at Summit Charter.
Hayesville bolted to a 17-1 first-period lead and never looked back.
Lee led the attack with 14 points in a little more than two quarters of labor. Hughes scored 9 on three 3-pointers, E.J. Abrams tossed in 8, Brown tallied 6, Chandler scored 4, Zack Townsend had 3 and Slade Crouch added a bucket.
Summit Charter didn’t put up much of a fight, which allowed Cottrell to get significant minutes for his more inexperienced players.
“This team’s got a lot to learn, we are very inexperienced in spots,” Cottrell said in a preseason interview. “Some of these guys have never started a game. We’ve got a lot to work on. They’re willing to do that. Some teams resist that type of work. This team seems to want to get better and learn.”
The Yellow Jackets have potential. With a capital P.
And Hayesville’s coaching staff knows how to teach, motivate and build winners. Cottrell has won 476 games, 12 Smoky Mountain Conference titles and two state championships in 25 years at Hayesville. His assistants Justin Ashe, Andrew Brown, Joshua and Zach Cottrell, Will Penland and Keith Thompson are first-rate.
“This is the best staff I ever had,” Cottrell said. “Those guys all either played at the college level or have connections to colleges they were part of. I’m letting them coach a lot. They’re doing a lot in our practices. All of them have connections to Hayesville basketball. All of them played for me or my dad. These kids are blessed to have them around. Most of them don’t get paid. They’re doing it on their own time.”
No doubt about it, the Yellow Jackets will improve. Cottrell has a plan to turn a team with little experience and no height to speak of into a winner.
Hayesville hosts Swain County Friday.