Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville’s Eli Cheeks, No. 11, goes up strong after slipping through the Swain defense.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
What should have been an epic battle between big men turned out to be a big disappointment for Hayesville’s JV basketball team last Monday.
Hayesville pivotman Wes Jennings who only missed one shot and scored 18 points against Hiwassee Dam the previous game was unavailable to oppose Blake Lambert and the big Maroon Devil feasted with 22 points and six rebounds in a 61-15 win.
Hayesville was also without leading scorer Byron Engelmann. The eight jayvees who dressed tried valiantly but led just twice 1-0 and 3-2.
Swain broke the contest open by ending the first quarter with nine unanswered points for a 20-7 lead. Sadly, things went down from there. The Maroon Devils outscored Hayesville 14-2 in the second quarter, 13-6 in the third and, gulp, 14-0 in the fourth.
Micah Moss led Hayesville with five points. He was also the most proficient shooter from the charity stripe with 4-of-6 accuracy. Eli Cheeks was Hayesville’s leading rebounder with six. He also scored three points.
Rhett Sellers contributed three points and three rebounds. Karson Hughes added two points and three boards. Carson Finn had 2 points and 2 rebounds.