Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville's Asher Brown lofts a fallaway can't-touch-this jumper against Andrews. Brown finished with 10 points in the hotly contested skirmish.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
The Hayesville varsity boys basketball team battled Andrews to the wire in a Smoky Mountain Conference barn burner Friday, but the Wildcats were the ones who made hay, 66-57, in The Hive.
“We played well against Andrews,” Hayesville Coach Mike Cottrell said. “It was the best full game we have played recently.”
The knock-down, drag-out affair featured nine lead changes and seven ties during the first three periods of senior night.
Andrews took control for keeps in the final act with an unbelievable 10 trips to the free throw line — six of those visits to Charityville coming in the final 1:09 after Hayesville’s Slade Crouch trimmed the lead to 54-48 with a pull-up jumper.
That was the beginning of a superb burst of offense from Crouch, who came through with crucial three-pointers at 1:01 and :39.9 to keep Hayesville hopes alive.
Those hopes vanished under a barrage of free throws as Andrews played cat-and-mouse with the ball and the Yellow Jackets were forced to foul to stop the clock. The Wildcats’ 6-foot-4 center Cameron Rattler looked as comfortable at the line as free throw shooting legend Bunny Leavitt. Rattler tickled the twine 14 times on charity tosses in the fourth quarter alone.
Andrews hit on 24-of-29 freebies on the night. Hayesville attempted just 11 charity shots, making 7.
“They got the free throw line over twice as much as we did and that proved to be the difference,” Cottrell remarked.
In the first half, four of Andrews’ trips to the line were “and ones” in which a Wildcat was fouled as his shot went in.
Hayesville played tough despite the discrepancy in fouls whistled.
The Yellow Jackets eked out a 28-27 halftime lead and went up 38-35 on a Luke Lee three late in the third, but fell behind 43-40 when Andrews closed out the third with two more “and ones” and a three-pointer.
Hayesville spent the fourth period fighting to get over the hump, never quite made it. The Jackets came close though.
Midway through the final period, Lee got the gym rocking when he grabbed an Andrews miss, raced toward the Hayesville basket and flipped a pass to a trailing Isaac Chandler, who scored and was fouled. Chandler’s free toss cut the lead to 47-45.
It appeared Hayesville just might overcome when Asher Brown’s alert helpside defense prevented an Andrews bucket at the 3:14 mark, Chandler took a charge (only to be called for blocking), and Brown earned a trip to the foul line with a sweet baseline spin move.
Andrews kept shooting freebies. The Wildcats were up 54-46 with 1:44 prior to Crouch blowing red-hot for 8 points in :54 seconds.
In the end, Andrews free throws doomed Hayesville, which only committed seven turnovers and nailed a healthy 10-of-23 three-pointers on the night.
Five different Jackets scored from behind the arch. Crouch, Lee, Brown and Jacob McClure each hit a pair of long balls. Landon Hughes also had a homerun.
Lee led Hayesville with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists.
Crouch bucketed 12 points, pulled down three rebounds and dished out two assists.
Brown went for 10 points, three rebounds and two assists. Chandler contributed 10 points and three boards, while McClure added 6 points, two rebounds and two assists. Jackson Sellers had 3 points and two boards. Hughes tallied 3 points. Zach Townsend contributed two rebounds during the first three minutes.
The defeat left Hayesville with an 0-9 mark in the SMC and 11-12 record overall. Andrews improved to 5-4 in the conference and 18-5 overall.
Robbinsville 65, Hayesville 51
The Yellow Jackets had a tougher time when Robbinsville visited last Tuesday.
“Rebounding hurt us against a very good Robbinsville team. We didn’t shoot the ball well enough during the second half,” Cottrell remarked.
Chandler, Crouch and McClure scored a dozen points apiece. Hughes contributed 8 points, Lee 4, Sellers 2 and Brown 1.
The Yellow Jackets looked to finish strong at Murphy on Tuesday and peak in the post-season tournament.
“I’m proud of their continued progress,” Cottrell said. “It’s a fun time of year, tournament time.”