Season over for Lady Jackets

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  • (Kelli Graves • Clay County Progress) Brianna Foster prepares to stop an Alleghany scoring attempt.
    (Kelli Graves • Clay County Progress) Brianna Foster prepares to stop an Alleghany scoring attempt.
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For the second round of the state tournament, the Lady Yellow Jacket basketball team from Hayesville High hit the road to face Alleghany. Hayesville was the underdog going into the event, but put up a strong fight. Ultimately Alleghany, a No. 2 seed, was able to take care of business, handing the Lady Jackets a season- ending 58-42 loss.

Hayesville hung with their host early on by matching buckets on offense and limiting the damage with solid defense. By the end of the opening quarter, the Lady Trojans held a slim 9-8 lead. Alleghany was able to take control in the second quarter by out scoring Hayesville 14-7 which put the Lady Jackets behind 23-15 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Hayesville was able to excite their fan base with an offensive rally. The Lady Jackets crossed the 10-point mark for the first time in the game with 11. Alleghany wasn’t able to make a major run, but was able to extend their lead to 36-24 going into the fourth quarter. In that final stanza, Hayesville had their strongest offensive production of the night with 16 total points.

Any hope of a come-from- behind win was crushed thanks to 22 points by the Lady Trojans. The 58-42 loss ended Hayesville’s bid for a title and their season.

Senior Jade Patterson ended her career at HHS with a team-high 12 points. Brianna Foster topped the charts with 9 rebounds and Lizzy Brusini ended the game with a pair of steals.

Looking back on the Lady Jackets’ 16-13 season, coach Chad McClure and his team had several bright spots. A pair of wins over top 10 teams and a tie for third place in the conference gives the program a strong foundation to build on in the 2020-21 season.

Leaders at Alleghany

Jade Patterson: 12 points, three rebounds, one assist.

Lila Payne: 10 points.

Brianna Foster: 8 points, nine rebounds, two steals.

Lizzy Brusini: 5 points, two steals, two rebounds.