Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville floor general Kabe Shaheen, No. 3, motors downcourt on the way to a layup as Micah Moss, No. 2, trails the play.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Hayesville’s JV boys advanced to the second round of the Smoky Mountain Conference Tournament by beating two Swain County teams Monday in the Darryl K. McClure Gymnasium.
Actually, Hayesville only defeated one team, 56-42. Swain sure seemed like two different teams.
In the first half, the Yellow Jackets made just three errors as they manhandled a turnover-prone/poor-shooting opponent, 29-7. The second half was a different story. Hayesville had to fight tooth-and-nail against a revitalized Swain team that played sticky defense, pounded the ball inside and drained three-pointers.
“I thought the guys played well. They had a great first half and withstood a run early in the second which is what you have to do to move on. Any win right now is big,” Hayesville Coach Josh Cottrell stated.
The Jekyll-and-Hyde Maroon Devils opened the second half by outscoring Hayesville, 14-2 to cut the lead to 31-21.
After Hayesville’s Carter Whitfield busted a three-pointer with 3:30 on the third-quarter clock, closed out the third quarter with seven unanswered points. Hayesville 34, Swain 28 after three.
Swain pulled within four in the fourth act but couldn’t get out of the back seat.
Still, a Swain comeback seemed like a definite possibility, until Hayesville slammed the door in typical Yellow Jacket fashion.
The floodgates opened when E.J. Mapusua rebounded a misfire and dished to Micah Moss, who scored and was fouled. Three-point play. Next, Damien Soto intercepted a pass and went in for a layup. Nine seconds later, Moss found the bottom of the net. Nineteen seconds later, Donovin Soto scored on a fast-break layup.
When the smoke cleared, Hayesville led 48-34.
The Jackets weren’t finished. They closed out the game with a 8-3 run on a put-back by Donovin, two free throws apiece by Damien, Moss and Kabe Shaheen.
The back-court of Moss and Shaheen played superbly. Moss nailed 4-of-7 shots from the field, scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed three rebounds. Shaheen made 6-of-8 free throws, tallied 15 points and collected three boards.
Damien also dominated. The Slender Splendor sliced and diced Swain with 13 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Donovin added seven points without missing a shot and pulled down seven rebounds.
Mapusua contributed five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Whitfield scored three points.
The No. 4 seed Yellow Jackets meet No. 1 seed Robbinsville at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. The winner of that game plays for the SMC championship at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20.
Hayesville will be looking to settle a score with Robbinsville. The Black Knights trumped the Jackets, 41-22, in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Here’s a summary of Hayesville’s regular season ended:
Robbinsville 41,
Hayesville 22
The Black Knights reaffirmed their standing as the top team in the SMC by putting Hayesville in a 30-7 deep freeze in the first half on Feb. 13.
Hayesville outscored the Black Knights, 15-11, in the final two quarters, but the Jackets couldn’t climb out of that hole.
Mapusua led Hayesville with six points. He also had two rebounds.
Damien had six rebounds, five points, three steals and two assists.
Shaheen went four points, three seals and a pair of boards.
Moss posted three points, two steals, two caroms and two steals.
Donovin and Wes Jennings scored two points apiece. Donovin also collected two steals, two boards and two assists.
Hayesville 49,
Murphy 40
The Yellow Jackets used a big first quarter on Feb. 11 to cage the Bulldogs, 49-40, for the second time this year.
Hayesville bolted to a 9-0 lead and finished the first quarter with an 18-6 advantage and zero turnovers.
The second quarter was nearly as good. The Jackets had the visitors on a short leash, 32-12 at the halfway point.
Hayesville earned the win with 41-percent shooting from the field and 36 rebounds, which countered icy, 2-of-12 shooting from three-point range and free throw shooting just under 50 percent.
Damien knocked over the Bulldogs water bowl with 15 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and Hayesville’s only treys.
Shaheen did a stellar job of breaking Murphy’s press and directed the offense far better than Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Shaheen tallied 10 points, four rebounds and three steals.
Donovin was Hayesville’s most efficient shooter. He canned 3-of-4 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds.
Moss contributed four points, three steals and two boards. Jennings added four rebounds and made his only shot attempt. Mapusua went for four rebounds and two points. Whitfiled collected two boards and converted a free throw.