Josh Bryson • Photo Hayesville's Briley Clampitt, No. 14, "relocates" Highlands center Hunter Conner as the two fight for rebounding position.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Hayesville’s varsity girls zoomed to a 12-0 lead before Highlands woke up and ran away from the visitors from Clay County, 47-38, Friday night on the Highlanders’ court.
The Lady Jackets, 1-1, were undone by cold shooting after a sizzling start in which Ava Moore scored three baskets underneath and Briley Clampitt busted a three-pointer.
“We were firing on all cylinders when we went up 12-0, but we couldn’t throw it in an ocean after the first quarter,” Hayesville Coach Tammy Dills remarked.
Hayesville made 10-of-15 free throws of the night, but converted just 12-of-46 field goal attempts and 2-of-15 from behind the three-point stripe.
The inability to score was somewhat due Highland’s 5-foot-9 senior center Hunter Conner blocking 10 shots and stealing the ball five times.
Conner also bothered Hayesville with eight first-quarter points, scoring on consecutive basket-and-foul three-point plays and a baseline bucket that cut Hayesville’s lead to 13-9.
“They ran their sideline break and we didn't get back in transition well. Then we woke up,” Highland Coach Brett Lamb said.
The awakened Highlanders outscored Hayesville, 10-5, in the second period and entered the intermission leading 19-18.
Hayesville fought tooth and nail during a frantic third quarter, but 2-of-7 field goal shooting and 1-of-7 popping from three-point land prevented the Lady Jackets from retaking the lead.
Conner, however, wasn’t a factor on the offensive
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end due to a box-in-one defense that had Clampitt and then Micalynn McClure face guarding Highlands’ big girl.
The defense worked like a charm, but Conner’s playmates used superb ball movement to get high-percentage shots as their center stood outside and watched.
On the other end of the floor, Ava Shook took over. “Unshakeable Shook” canned a three-pointer off a pass from Clampitt, tossed in a running one-hander off a Moore dish, and followed that with a 10-foot jumper in less than two minutes to give Hayesville a 25-21.
Highlands answered with eight unanswered points to take a lead it never relinquished.
Hayesville pulled within a single point twice in the final quarter, but the Highlanders salted the game away by hitting 7-of-8 from the charity stripe during the final :48.1.
“We were down by one going into the fourth but the ball didn’t fall on what should have been some easy buckets and we made a few critical turnovers that Highlands took advantage of at a crucial time,” Dills stated.
Shook led Hayesville with 13 points on 4-of-6 field goal shooting. She also had six rebounds and four assists. Moore added 10 points and pulled down five rebounds.
Clampitt tallied five points, five rebounds and a pair of steals. Jasmine Brooks had six rebounds and five points. Caroline Wade kicked in three boards and a point. McClure contributed four rebounds.
The Lady Jackets visited Summitt Charter on Wednesday before heading to Nantahala on Friday and hosting Hiwassee Dam Tuesday.
Hayesville Scoring
Shook - 13; Moore - 10; Brooks - 5; Clampitt - 5; Trout - 3; Anderson - 1 and Wade - 1.
Hayesville Leaders
Rebounds: Shook - six; Clampitt - five and Moore - five.
Assists: Shook - four; Clampitt - two and Trout - two.
Steals: Clampitt - three; McClure - two and Shook - two.
Score by quarters
Hayesville 13 - 18 - 27 - 36
Highlands 9 - 19 - 28 - 47