Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Mallory Peck concentrates before launching and swishing a free throw in Hayesville victory over visiting Andrews Friday.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
How sweep it is.
Last week, Hayesville’s varsity girls — 18-5 overall, 7-2 Smoky Mountain Conference — topped Robbinsville and Andrews for the second time this season and the margin of victory was larger in both rematches.
Balanced offense was a storyline against Andrews. Four Lady Yellow Jackets scored 8 or more in a 61-24 win on Friday. Hayesville won the previous meeting 63-35.
Clingy defense was a deciding factor in both wins. Hayesville held Robbinsville and Andrews to their second lowest scores of the year.
Here’s more detail about how the Lady Jackets rolled:
Hayesville 61, Andrews 24
“I was extremely pleased with our execution all around, it was just great by everybody. I thought we had great energy. We got off to a great start,” Hayesville Coach Chad McClure said.
Hayesville exploded out of the starting gate for a 7-0 advantage as Emma Ashe busted a trey and Mallory Peck twice grabbed misses and powered the ball back in.
Andrews finally tripped the scoreboard with 4:45 on the clock, but kept moving the ball and attacking the rim even though the Wildcats’ triangle-in-one offense prevented Hayesville’s season scoring leader Ava Shook from attempting a shot.
While Andrews attempted to handcuff Shook, the Lady Jackets stayed a step ahead with a driving lay-up by Breanna Abrams, a jumper by Jasmine Brooks, a corner swish by Briley Clampitt, and another bucket by Brooks.
The Wildcats abandoned the strategy of assigning a chaser on Shook with a little less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter. A blink later, Ashe earned a defense rebound and hit Shook for a fast-break lay-up.
Six different Lady Jackets scored as Hayesville posted a 17-9 lead after one period.
The Lady Jackets went nutso in the second, outscoring the visiting Wildcats 12-2 on the way to a 28-11 halftime lead.
The run-and-hide routine began with back-to-back fast-break lay-ups by Ashe and Shook, both made possible by defensive rebounds by Shook.
A third fast-break ended with Shook being slammed to the floor by with a tackle disguised as a hard foul with two minutes left in the half.
Shook left the game after depositing a free throw, but thankfully returned after the intermission.
The Unshakeable One didn’t wait long to pull the Wildcats’ tail. Shook put Hayesville up by 24 with a rare four-point play when she swished a free throw after being fouled while busting a trey one minute into the third period.
Shook finished with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists, and zero turnovers.
In retrospect, Andrews may have focused on the wrong guard.
Ashe played brilliantly. The Splendid Splinter tallied a team-high 16 points with deft shooting — 4-of-6 outside the three-point arch and 2-of-4 inside it — and recorded three assists, two steals and two rebounds.
Or maybe Andrews should have paid more attention to Abrams. Hayesville’s Energizer Bee had 4 steals and made 3-of-4 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws for 8 points.
Brooks’ play also warranted attention. She was 3-of-3 from the field for 6 points and handed out two assists.
Andrews had no answer for Mighty Peck, who skinned the ’Cats for 16 points and 12 boards.
Now Andrews knows that Hayesville is not Ava and Shookaires. The Yellow Jackets are team in every sense of the word.
“The other kids have to respond because they’re going to get open looks when teams start running junk defenses,” McClure said. “You have to remind the person who’s being chased to stay focused and not get frustrated. They did a good job of that. We got some transition baskets, which helped.”
Clampitt had three rebounds and made her only shot attempt, Bryleigh Krieger dished four assists and came up with two steals and two rebounds, Brooke Graves pulled down four rebounds and made two steals, Kayla Brown had two rebounds, and Ava Moore added 2 points.
“I was super proud of the effort. I thought everybody contributed in some sort of way,” McClure stated. “I feel like we’re starting to play our best basketball at the right time.”
The loss dropped Andrews to 4-8 in the conference, 10-12 overall.
The victory was Hayesville’s 12th triumph in its last 13 games.
Robbinsville 45, Hayesville 38
The Yellow Jackets trailed 13-9 after one quarter but outscored the Lady Knights, 6-6 in the SMC, 15-6 overall, in the second, third and fourth.
“Robbinsville’s a very good team. We, previously, had to beat them in overtime up there,” McClure said. “We found a way to win. Seeing this team learn that over the past year and half has been fun to watch and seeing their growth and improvement along the way.”
Hayesville turned the tide with a big third quarter. The Lady Jackets turned a 23-21 halftime deficit into a 33-27 lead going into the final stanza.
Shook led the attack with 24 points on 5-of-10 three-point popping and 9-of-12 work at the line. She also had four steals and four assists.
Krieger added six rebounds — four offensive — and 5 points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field.
Abrams collected six boards, passed for three baskets, scored 3 points and made two steals.
Graves had seven boards and 2 points, Ashe added 5 points and three assists, Clampitt scored 3 and grabbed three caroms, Peck had five boards and 1 point and Brooks scored a basket.