By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Look out Andrews.
The JV Yellow Jacket boys made it two-in-a-row with a rousing, come-from-behind, 44-42 triumph over Robbinsville on Friday.
Tuesday night’s regular season finale at Andrews promises to be a thriller. Yellow Jackets jayvee games are not for the faint of heart — Hayesville’s latest two wins were by a total of 3 points.
The Robbinsville contest came down to the wire. The Black Knights had the final shot but missed it and Jackson Sellers grabbed the ball and hugged it like it was a gold nugget as time expired.
If possible, Hayesville’s win over visiting Cherokee was even more exciting.
Hayesville 49, Cherokee 48
Slade Crouch scored the Yellow Jackets final 6 points as Hayesville upended the Braves, 49-48, Tuesday night in The Hive.
Riley Rogers' three with 3:45 left to play gave Hayesville's it's first lead, but Cherokee eked ahead, 48-47, with a three-pointer with just :20 remaining.
At the other end, Crouch was trapped by two Braves. As the Cherokee bench screamed for a traveling call, a referee whistled the Braves for a foul.
After a timeout, Crouch cooly swished the first end of the 1-and-1 to tie the game. His second shot was just as pretty and made the score 49-48.
Cherokee rushed down court but missed at :02 and the ball went out of bounds to Hayesville.
Talk about a heart stopper.
"We spotted them 13 points in the first quarter. I think they like playing from behind. It gets them going," Hayesville Coach Will Penland remarked with a smile.
Hayesville was behind all right, to the tune of 17-4. Then, "We started pressing. Our guys came alive and the press started affecting Cherokee. We turned them over a couple of times, got them in a hurry. That also helps us kind of kick start our offense," Penland said.
It was clear by halftime that Hayesville wasn't going to go away. The Yellow Jackets reduced the lead to 27-24 by the intermission.
The Braves expanded their advantage to 40-34 late in the third act, but a traveling violation gave Hayesville the ball with :18 on the clock, just enough time for Will Brown to storm into the lane and score to make it 40-36.
Hayesville's pressure defense frustrated Cherokee in the final quarter and the Yellow Jackets made hay while the Braves struggled to score.
Cooper Matheson lit the fuse with a steal, going all the way for a lay-up and a foul. He made the free throw to close the lead to 40-39.
Cherokee's last hurrah came on a three-pointer that trimmed the lead.
Hayesville's 73-percent free throw shooting was a big factor in the win.
“In the second half we really handled the pressure well, limited our turnovers and that took away a lot of their offense, the same offense they got going with in the first half. We limited that in the second half but handled their pressure,” Penland said,
Crouch led the victors with 21 points. Matheson scored 11, Rogers had 5, Brown 4, Peyton McGaha 3 and E.J. Abrams 2.