By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Hayesville held first-quarter leads in all three Battle of the States tournament games but lost all three by large margins.
Polk County 81, Hayesville 49
This third-round game Tuesday was much closer than the final score indicated.
Polk County, 7-6, repeatedly threatened to run and hide but the scrappy Yellow Jackets kept finding ways to shrink double-digit leads.
Case in point: When Polk County went up 29-15, Hayesville fought back with a steal by Brendan Lynch, followed by a Rhett Sellers’ three-pointer, followed by a put back by Landon Trout that closed the gap to 31-23.
Then, a questionable charging foul on Trout with :51 remaining in the second quarter.
Polk County added two buckets before the horn to pull ahead 35-23.
The half ended with a Polk County player hitting Trout in the face with the ball, but nothing was called.
Hayesville continued to fight in the third quarter. With the score 39-28, Jackson Sellers drew a charging foul and then busted a three-pointer. Two free throws by Micah Moss made the score Polk County 40, Hayesville 33 at the 5-minute mark of the third quarter.
Things were looking up, until the Yellow Jackets went scoreless for the next 2:40 while Polk County’s Behr Burrows canned four shots in a row.
Another Hayesville drought in the fourth act — this one lasting 2:21 — allowed Polk County to rattle off 8 more unanswered points and increase its holdings by 20-plus.
Hayesville shot 11-of-27 from the field, 6-of-21 from three-land, 9-of-14 from the line, collected 29 rebounds and committed 20 turnovers.
Brady Reynolds led the bucket brigade with 13 points. Sellers tossed in 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and took two charging fouls. Rhett Sellers added 9 points. E.J. Abrams contributed 6 points and four rebounds. Trout tallied 5 points and collected four boards. Moss ran down two rebounds.
Towns County 68, Hayesville 48
The Yellow Jackets were undone by 18 turnovers and 18 misses, out of 22 attempts, from behind the three-point arch against Towns County in the opening round of the tournament.
Hayesville trailed by 17 at the half, 35-18, but trimmed the lead to 10, 37-27, by opening the third quarter with two put backs by Lynch and three-pointers by Abrams and Sellers.
The promising rally fizzled when Hayesville committed two turnovers in a span of :14, the second leading to a three-point play by Tucker Engert.
Hayesville hit stride and outscored the Indians 20-17 in the third period. The insurrection was led by Lynch, six rebounds; Abrams, 3-of-3 from downtown and an and-one three-point play and Sellers, three steals and two boards.
Towns County, 6-8, all but slammed the door with a pair of free throws at the end of the third quarter and five straight points to open the final act.
Lynch led Hayesville with 10 markers and team highs in seven rebounds and three assists.
Abrams added 12 points; Reynolds contributed five rebounds, 5 points and three assists. Sellers took two charging fouls, had 6 points, four boards and two steals. Kyle Shaheen tallied 5 points and handed out two assists. Trout had 4 points on 2-of-3 shooting. Rhett Sellers entered the game in the fourth quarter and nailed 2-of-3 shots. Damien Soto pulled down three boards. Moss scored a basket.
Franklin 77, Hayesville 36
New night, same outcome.
Hayesville stayed neck-and-neck through most of the first quarter before falling seriously behind as turnovers mounted.
The Jackets short-circuited with 14 first-quarter miscues that helped Franklin close out the opening eight minutes with a 13-1 run.
Franklin upped its 25-9 first-quarter advantage to a 38-19 halftime hold. The second half was even more one-sided.
Hayesville turned the ball over 33 times and again shot 4-of-22 from behind the arch. The upside: the Jackets hit 7-of-15 from the field and nailed 8-of-10 free throws.
Reynolds and Abrams were top scorers with 11 and 10, respectively.
Abrams was the most efficient shooter, finding the bottom of the net on 3-of-3 from the charity stripe, 2-of-3 from the field and 1-of-3 from distance. He also had a team-best three assists and three rebounds.
Trout also made 3-of-3 from the line. He also had three boards, three assists and five markers.
Jackson Sellers again took two charges and led the team in rebounding with eight.
Soto tallied five caroms and tossed in 3 points.
Shaheen had three rebounds; Moss 2. Rhett Sellers and Wes Jennings each scored 2 points.