Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville's Bryleigh Krieger, No. 10, slips through the Rabun County defense for a bucket.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
For three quarters, Coosa threatened and Hayesville responded in their second-round match-up in the 30th Annual Battle of the States Basketball Tournament.
The Lady Jackets finally tired of playing with their food in the fourth and left the Eagles in the dust by ballooning a 5-point lead into a 32-23 victory.
Hayesville, in control 26-21 entering the final quarter, didn’t waste any time tightening the clamps on Coosa.
Briley Clampitt flicked the ‘on’ switch with a sweet 3-pointer on a pass from Ava Shook and Mallory Peck scored on a put-back to extend the lead to 31-21. Next, Shook added a charity toss to up the advantage to 32-21.
The Eagles tried to close the gap, but Breanna Abrams made a steal, forced a turnover and grabbed a defensive rebound in the final 2:30 to seal the deal.
“I felt like we defended better and that we played with intensity, especially on defense,” Hayesville Coach Chad McClure stated. “We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball though.”
The game certainly seemed closer than the final score indicated. Coosa repeatedly knocked on the door.
The first knock came with Hayesville leading 16-12 late in the second quarter when Abby Waits cut the lead to 1 with an and-one on a fast-break. Coosa looked like a lock to go up when Hayesville came up empty on two free throws, but Bryleigh Krieger came through with a defensive rebound and scored at the other end when she cashed in a Jasmine Brooks feed to put the good girls up 18-15 at the intermission.
Coosa kept coming after the half. The Eagles promptly knotted the game at 18-all on a 3-ball. Once again, Hayesville responded, this time when Clampitt scored on an assist from Brooke Graves.
Coosa used another 3-pointer to close the gap to 23-21, but Krieger delivered the rock to Shook, who said “Enough is enough” with a bucket and free throw for a 26-21 bankroll at the end of three.
Hayesville had contributions across the board as Clampitt and Shook led the way.
Clampitt lit up the scoreboard with 2-of-3 field goals and two bullseyes from distance for a team-high 10 points to go with six rebounds. Shook tallied 9 points, cleared seven boards, blocked two shots and handed out two assists.
Krieger collected nine rebounds, saved the ball from going out of bounds five times and had two assists and a bucket. Abrams had three steals and 2 points, Peck snared seven rebounds and scored 2 points, Graves was 2-of-2, Brooks had two boards and two assists and Emma Ashe had three steals and two caroms.
Rabun County 53, Hayesville 34
The Lady Jackets led throughout the first 12 minutes Friday night in the Battle of the States tournament, but Rabun County closed out the first half with a 14-4 run Hayesville never recovered from.
The turnabout came after Rabun County abandoned a box-in-one defense designed to harass Shook. The Indians took control after going man-to-man.
After the half, the Wildcats added insult to injury by outscoring the Lady Jackets 20-11 in the third quarter and 5-3 in the fourth.
Hayesville fought with determination until the final horn but was undone by 20 turnovers and anemic 1-of-10 shooting from 3-pointland.
Peck led the offense with 12 points on 6-of-8 field goal shooting. She also had four rebounds.
Krieger had a team-high six rebounds, made 2-of-3 shots from the field and 2-of-2 from the line.
Abrams sparkled with three rebounds, 2 points, two steals, two assists and three dives in pursuit of loose basketballs. Ashe was 3-of-3 from the field for 6 points and had a steal, deflection and rebound. Shook tallied 5 points to go with two steals, one block, an assist and a rebound. Clampitt took a charge and contributed 3 points and two deflections. Graves added three rebounds, a block and an assist.
Hayesville 38, Towns County 29
Shook nailed 8-of-8 free throws on the way to a game-high 16 points and Ashe took care of the long-distance bombing with a pair of 3s and 7 points as Hayesville handled Towns County on Dec. 21.
Hayesville went up 9-5 in the first quarter and padded the lead to 17-7 at the half before Towns County outscored the Black-and-Gold, 10-5, in the third quarter.
Peck added 5 points, Clampitt 4, Abrams and Krieger 2 apiece and 1 each from Graves and Brooks.
Five Lady Jackets scored in the fourth quarter to end Towns County’s hopes. Shook and Ashe led the way in the crucial fourth with 6 and 4 points, respectively.