Hayesville heads home holding hardware

HIAWASSEE, GA — After an emotional loss to Towns County in the second round of the Battle of the States tournament, the varsity Yellow Jacket team from Hayesville High School returned to the Hiawassee, GA Saturday, Dec. 28 to face Lumpkin County. While a battle for a third place trophy wasn't what the Jackets had in mind when they entered the tournament, they fought hard and came away with a 57-45 win.

Both teams were able to find the bottom of the bucket early on, exchanging scores on a consistent basis. Blake McClure led the Jackets in the opening quarter with 5 of Haysville's 11 first-quarter points. Lumpkin wasn't far behind as the Indians netted 9 points before the buzzer sounded.

Early on in the second quarter, Lumpkin put together a run to even things up. Hayesville's Hayden McClure broke the 12-12 tie with a foul shot with 5:13 left on the clock. Just over a minute later, Jake McTaggart dished a pass to Kyle Lunsford who went up and in for two. On the following possession, Kolbe Ashe drained a 3 from the corner to put the Jackets up by 6 points. After a quick steal, Brady Shook extended Hayesville's lead to 8. The Jackets continued to roll, forcing a timeout with 2:01 left before the break.  Coming out of the short rest, Hayesville's defense gave the Indians fits, resulting in turnovers and points for the Jackets. McTaggart sent the teams into the locker rooms with a buzzer-beating 3 pointer to give Hayesville a 29-12 lead. 

The Jackets came out in the second half with a slower, more intentional pace. Ashe earned a trip to the free throw line for Hayesville's first points of the third quarter. A foul call sent the Indians to the stripe and ignited a run for Lumpkin which closed the gap to 10 points and caused coach Mike Cottrell to take a timeout to talk to the Jackets. The Indians turned their attention to McTaggart on defense which gave other players openings including Shook who nailed a 3 from the corner with 3:30 left in the quarter. Two quick turnovers resulted in Hayesville extending the lead to 43-25 with under a minute to play in the stanza. Lumpkin refused to finish out the quarter quietly and drew a bit closer, making the score 43-30 heading into the final quarter.

Fouls started the fourth with the Jackets benefiting not only with points but a key player for Lumpkin had to leave the court due to foul trouble. Hayesville exploited the Indians' man-to-man defense led 49-36 at the six minute mark. The Jackets began using ball movement to run time off the clock and wait for a clean shot. Most of those shots came from McTaggart who could not be stopped underneath the basket. As time ticked away, the Indians started taking shots of desperation and making poor passes which gave the ball back to the Jackets. With 1:30 left in the game, Hayesville began the weave formation to kill the clock. Seemingly content with what seemed to be the inevitable, Lumpkin did not foul and the Jackets were content to run out the clock to get the 57-45 victory and the third place trophy.

In post-game ceremonies, sophomore McTaggart was named to the All-Tournament team.

Hayesville will take a break now and prepare to host the Towns County Indians at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4.

Leaders vs Lumpkin County

Jake McTaggart: 14 points

Brady Shook: 13 points

Blake McClure: 11 points

Kolbe Ashe: 7 points