Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville's Emma Ashe, No. 24, launches a picture-perfect 3-pointer as teammate Bryleigh Krieger, No. 10, fights for position.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Conventional wisdom suggests there is a direct correlation between consistently putting the basketball through the hoop and winning games.
So much for traditional thinking.
Hayesville’s Lady Jackets struggled to tickle the twine in two games last week, but won both contests with adept ball handling, clingy defense, end-to-end hustle and make-your-mama-proud determination.
“We aren’t scoring a lot of points, but we’re finding ways to win,” Hayesville Coach Chad McClure said. “Getting back-to-back close wins at home was great. Wins are always good.”
Thursday, the Lady Jackets downed Franklin, 36-27, with subpar marksmanship — 20 percent from 3-point range, 32 percent from the field and 53 percent from the charity stripe.
Hayesville then bested Summit Charter, 43-38, on Friday with 21 percent shooting from the field and 26 percent popping from 3-point range.
“Rebounding and defense has been our strength,” McClure said. “Mallory, Krieger, and Clampitt rebounded well and Brooke had five rebounds in limited time against Summit.”
Here’s how the Lady Jackets improved their record to 6-6 with a pair of unconventional victories:
Hayesville 43, Summit 38
Great shooters keep shooting, even when her shots aren’t falling. Emma Ashe is great from behind the arch.
Ashe proved her ability to score from long-distance by drilling three third-quarter treys that lifted Hayesville from a tenuous (19-16) halftime lead to a 34-25 spread entering the final quarter.
Ashe didn’t just bust buckets; she thwarted Summit with a pair of impressive hustle plays with the guests knocking on the door — a big, big defensive rebound she fought for and won with the score 25-21 and a sweet steal a few seconds later.
Ashe’s scoring outburst and big plays loomed large in the fourth, when Summit stormed back with 6 unanswered points on a pair of triples when Hayesville went scoreless for 4 minutes.
Up 34-31, the Lady Jackets acquired breathing room when Shook deliver the rock to Peck, who powered it home through a triple team.
A defensive rebound by Krieger on a three-ball led to a gorgeous, timely trey by Breanna Abrams on Shook’s assist that pushed the score to 39-34 with 1:45 remaining.
A pair of long balls by the visitors trimmed the lead to 39-37, but Abrams and Krieger grabbed crucial rebounds to keep the ball in Hayesville’s hands.
Perfect free throwing by Shook (with :15.3 left to play) and Abrams (:11.9 remaining) sealed the victory.
“Offensively, we did a decent job taking care of the ball, executing and creating good shots,” McClure stated.
Hayesville’s floor game was truly impressive. The Lady Jackets only committed nine errors.
The total team effort saw Shook score 11 points to go with five assists, four steals and two rebounds. Abrams made a pair of 3-points, scored 9 points, grabbed three rebounds and made two steals.
Peck hauled in 12 boards and scored 6 points. Ashe added three steals and two rebounds to her 9 points. Clampitt added 6 points and two caroms. Krieger cleared eight rebounds and made two free throws — the only shots she took. Brooke Graves had five boards and a deflection in just a few minutes of action.
Hayesville 36, Franklin 27
By some miracle, basket-busting guards Shook and Ashe were scoreless at halftime. Fortunately, Clampitt was hotter than a jalapeno on a hot plate.
B.C. knocked down 2-of-3 balls from behind the arch and canned her only field goal attempt to lead Hayesville to a 14-8 lead at the intermission.
Ashe and Shook found their shooting eyes in the second half, Peck owned the backboards and Hayesville made one big play after another.
To wit:
• With Hayesville up 16-8 in the third quarter, Shook prevented a certain fast-break layup by chasing down a Franklin guard and slapping the ball away from behind.
• Hayesville clung to a 19-18 lead late in the third quarter when Peck willed herself to a rebound on a missed free throw, drew a foul and swished both free tosses.
• McClure’s brilliant back court put an exclamation point on the third quarter when Shook pulled down a defensive board, pushed the ball up court and delivered a picture-perfect pass to Ashe, who drained an equally perfect jump shot from 3-pointland that elevated the Lady Jackets’ advantage to 24-18.
• In the fourth quarter, Hayesville upped the lead to 26-18 when Krieger slipped a sweet bounce pass to Peck for a bucket.
• Shook’s steal and drive to the hole made the score 28-20 with 4:53 left to play.
• Krieger’s interception of Franklin’s inbound pass with Hayesville on top 32-23 and 1:42 remaining set the table for clock-killing by the Lady Jackets.
• Franklin was unable to solve Hayesville’s cat-and-mouse keep away act that ate up precious time during the final minute. The Panthers were forced to foul and Shook made them pay with two made free throws.
The Lady Jackets didn’t shoot particularly well, but 15 offensive rebounds resulted in eight second-chance points. Hayesville did a masterful job of taking care of the ball. The Black-and-Gold made just three errors in the first half and eight overall.
Clampitt drilled 4-of-6 shots for 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and made two steals. Shook hit 2-of-3 field goal tries in the second half and finished with 10 points, three rebounds and three steals.
Peck tallied 8 points and cleared eight caroms. Ashe had four rebounds, 3 points, two rebounds and two assists.
Krieger snared six boards, made two steals and scored 2 points. Breanna Abrams earned four rebounds and scored a basket.