Hayesville's Luke Lee, No. 4, stretches to collect one of his 13 rebounds against Cherokee as teammate Slade Crouch also pursues the board.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
The third quarter continues to a bugaboo for the Hayesville varsity boys basketball squad.
The Yellow Jackets stayed close to Swain during the first half Tuesday before falling 64-47 at Bryson City and played Cherokee even during the initial 16 minutes Friday before succumbing to the host Braves, 85-62.
“We’re having really good quarters. We just can’t have a poor three to four minutes against these teams,” Hayesville Coach Mike Cottrell remarked.
Hayesville twice led by 5 in the second quarter against a speedy and aggressive Cherokee contingent that rallied to tie the score at 34-34 just before halftime.
The second half was a different story.
The Braves opened the third act with 11 unanswered points before Isaac Chandler applied a tourniquet to the bleeding with a bucket on a pass from Brown. Cherokee then went on an 8-0 run.
The Yellow Jackets were undone by 9 turnovers in the third as the Braves used superb trapping at mid court to disrupt Hayesville’s efforts to get the ball over the timeline.
Hayesville valiantly tried to get back in the game in the final quarter, but another seven errors nullified 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
The Yellow Jackets shot well all night, nailing 13-of-25 from the field and a respectable 9-of-23 from the three-point line. Unfortunately, Hayesville coughed up the ball 29 times.
Chandler was the most efficient shooting Yellow Jacket. He scored on all four field goal attempts but missed about half the game due to early foul trouble. He finished with 8 points and three rebounds.
Slade Crouch picked up the slack when Chandler sat. Crouch swished six consecutive shots with fearless, slashing drives to the hoop. He also gobbled up six rebounds in the first and second periods. The Crouch stat line for the night: 19 points, 8-of-13 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
Landon Hughes made 3-of-6 from distance for 9 points, Asher Brown scored seven markers, collected six rebounds and distributed three dimes.
Jacob McClure banged home 14 points, cleared five boards, handed out three assists, made two steals and iced 5-of-6 free throws.
Luke Lee cleared 13 rebounds and scored 5 points in three quarters work.
“I’m very encouraged at progress going into last part of season,” Cottrell remarked. “I feel like the team is now able to compete with anyone in league. The next step is to get them some wins.”
Swain 64, Hayesville 47
The Yellow Jackets stayed within striking distance for three quarters before the Maroon Devils built a double-digit lead and put their guests away in the final act.
Hayesville trailed 13-10 after the first quarter, 25-21 at the half and 44-36 after three.
McClure busted four triples on the way to scoring 18 points to lead Hayesville.
Chandler banked 12 points, while Hughes added 6, Lee 5, Brown 4, Crouch 2.
The Jackets (11-10 overall, 1-7 Smoky Mountain Conference) will do their best to put four solid quarters together when Andrews visits Friday and when Hayesville travels to Murphy on Tuesday.