Heartbreak in The Hive

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  • Photo by Kelli Graves / Clay County Progress
    Photo by Kelli Graves / Clay County Progress
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For their final game before taking a break for the Christmas holidays, the JV Yellow Jacket basketball team played host to Robbinsville Friday, Dec. 20. Hayesville fail behind early but climbed back to make the game a nail-biter in the closing second. Ultimately the Black Knights came out on top 54-51.

The Black Knights tried to take the fight out of Hayesville in the first quarter. Robbinsville netted 6 points before Hayesville was able to find the bottom of the bucket. Under the basket, the Black Knights fought hard for rebounds. Their strong defensive play coupled with scoring success gave the visitors an 8-3 lead at the end of the quarter.

In the second, the Jackets kept their composure and with 4:40 left in the half, took an 11-10 lead. Robbinsville answered and the back-and-fourth began. The two teams exchanged buckets and fouls for the remainder of the quarter. With a minute to go,the Black Knights used scores on two successive possessions to pull ahead 20-17.

Whistles stopped the game frequently throughout the third quarter thanks to fouls. The penalties benefited Robbinsville the most as halfway through the stanza, the Black Knights had built a 10-point, 32-22 lead. With .3 seconds left, Hayesville had cut the lead to 34-29 but a 3/4 court shot at the buzzer made the Knights' lead 37-29 with one quarter to play.

The Yellow Jackets continued to fight and at the 6:05 mark of the fourth had pulled within 1 point of Robbinsville. Just when it seemed Hayesville was making a play for the lead, the Knights pulled ahead. Refusing to go away, a rally from the Jackets cut the lead to 47-44 and forced Robbinsville to take a timeout. A Black Knight basket with 40 seconds to go stretched the lead to 51-47. Things remained close as the clock ticked away. Both teams started fouling to limit potential scores. With 6.8 seconds left, Hayesville trailed 53-51. A made foul shot pushed Robbinsville's lead to 54-51, the ultimate final.