By Gary Corsair
Staff Writer
Three measly points. Twenty-nine lousy seconds.
That was the miniscule difference between a perfect 3-0 for the Hayesville boys and the disappointing reality of a 1-2 record in the 28th Annual Battle of the States Holiday Basketball Tournament in Hiawassee last week.
The Yellow Jackets led all three games in the final minute but only seized victory in the Friday game against Polk County, a 53-43, triumph that took some sting out of last-second loses on Wednesday and Thursday.
Rabun County was the first offender. Thae Wildcats trailed 46-44 with :14 remaining when jumping jack Willie Goodwyn grabbed an offensive rebound, scored, and was fouled in the process. His free throw gave Rabun County a 47-46 win.
Déjà vu occurred Thursday when Coosa’s Ashton Williams stole Hayesville’s inbound pass and fed Joseph Richardson for a lay-up that put Coosa on top, 64-62, with :21.7 remaining. That’s where the score remained as the final buzzer sounded.
The frustrating finishes — and Friday’s very, good one — left Hayesville with a 6-4 record prior to Tuesday’s Smoky Mountain Conference showdown with visiting Robbinsville (9-1). The Yellow Jackets will play at Hiwassee Dam (4-6) on Friday before hosting Nantahala (0-6) on Monday.
Hayesville exited the holiday tournament with something to build on. The Yellow Jackets used blistering 3-point shooting to turn away Polk County, 53-43, in the consolation at Towns County High School Friday.
The Yellow Jackets, 6-4, burned up the nets with 9-of-14 (64 percent) marksmanship from behind the 3-point arc — at times way behind the stripe.
Logan Caldwell, who was named to the All-Tournament team following the win, was the most bombardier numero uno with 5-of-7 gunning as he tallied at game-high 23 points. Caldwell averaged 14 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3.0 steals per contest.
Logan also shot the ball well, especially from long distance in the win over Polk County. Caldwell repeatedly drilled long balls when the Wildcats (8-6) were on the verge of tying, pulling ahead or seizing the momentum.
Caldwell’s first 3 broke an 8-8 tie. His second inflated Hayesville’s lead from 2 to 5. His third pushed the lead from 3 to 6. In the third period, his fourth right-on rainbow broke a 34-34 tie.
Logan wasn’t the only eagle eye from treyland. Luke Lee hit back-to-back bombs to give Hayesville breathing room in the second quarter, and Ethan Hooper drilled 2-of-3.
The Yellow Jackets also took care of business at the charity stripe with 8-of-11 (73 percent) accuracy as Caldwell, Asher Brown, Kyle Lunsford and Issac Chandler each canned two freebies. Brown and Chandler were both 2-for-2.
The stellar shooting from downtown and the free throw line compensated for so-so, 9-of-31 shooting from the field.
Another key was how well the Yellow Jackets took care of the Wilson. The Gold-and-Black turned the ball over 10 times, but only 5 times in the final three quarters.
Yet another factor was Hooper’s willingness to defer to teammates. Polk County had a chaser in Ethan’s face all night and to Hooper’s credit, he didn’t force shots, he looked to get the ball to open teammates. Ethan took just 6 shots all night, but made 2 of them, handed out 5 assists, made 3 steals and grabbed 3 rebounds.
The lead only changed hands twice, but the second time Polk County took went up had at least a few fans wondering if Hayesville would return fire with fire.
Concerns were heightened when Hayesville forward Taylor McClure picked up his third foul and went to the bench shortly after Polk County tied the score at 31 three minutes into the third quarter.
Polk County promptly bucketed a 3 to extend its hard-earned lead to 34-31. An increase seemed imminent when Noah Shaw knifed thru two Hayesville defenders after grabbing a missed 3, went up and was fouled.
Fortunately, Shaw missed both freebies and Lunsford grabbed the rebound. Less than a minute later, clean-shaved Kyle hit 1-of-2 charity tosses to pull Hayesville within a bucket.
The Yellow Jackets broke the game open with three jump-up-and-cheer moments.
First, Chandler stole the ball, whipped it Hooper, who rifled it to Caldwell for a 2 with 2:45 on the third-period clock. Hayesville 34, Polk County 34.
Second, Hooper zipped the rock to Caldwell for a deep 3 with 2:01 on the clock. Hayesville 37, Polk County 34.
Third, Brown stole the ball at drove in for a lay-up at 1:46. Hayesville 39, Polk County 34.
Hayesville’s surge was powered by tenacious full-court pressure that befuddled the Wildcats.
The Yellow Jackets closed out the third by hitting 4-of-5 free throws for an insurmountable 44-33 advantage entering the final 8 minutes.
Polk County would get no closer than 8.
In addition to being leading scorer, Caldwell also pulled in 6 rebounds to go with 4 assists and 2 steals.
Lunsford was Hayesville’s only .500 shooter from the field, nailing 5-of-9 for 12 points to go with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Lee had 6 points and 2 boards. Brown scored 4 to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Seth Hedden had 3 caroms and 2 points.
Hayesville hosts Robbinsville (9-1) Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Coosa 64, Hayesville 62
Hayesville had a decent shot at stealing victory from Coosa in the final :13, but a baseline jump shot rimmed out at :01.8 and the ball went out of bounds as Lunsford and a defender fought for the rebound.
Hayesville hit Coosa with a balanced attack led by Hooper’s 22 points that included 5 from behind the arc. Caldwell added 13 points. Brown contributed 10. Lunsford tallied 9.
The Yellow Jackets held the upper hand most of the game.
Hayesville led 18-13 after the first period and stayed on top until Coosa knotted the score at 29 just before the halftime break. Hayesville looked to put the scrappers from Rome, Georgia away in the third period as Caldwell tallied 8 points, Hedden added 5, Lunsford added 4 and Brown and Hooper contributed a basket each.
The Yellow Jackets were downright dominant during a one-minute surge midway through the third act: Hedden swished a corner jumper at 5:31, Brown scored on a fast break layup at 5:07 and Caldwell banged home a 3 on an assist from Brown at 4:24. Hayesville 43-31.
Coosa regrouped during a timeout. Joseph Richardson all but took over, scoring 14 points in 4:00 to deflate Hayesville’s cushion to 50-47 entering the final act.
The Yellow Jackets promptly increased their advantage to 55-47 on a homerun by Hooper and Caldwell layup, but Coosa launched another rally. A steal that led to a Richardson layup trimmed the lead to 60-57 with 3:14 remaining.
Lunsford scored inside on a feed from Hooper with 1:33 left, but it was Hayesville’s last hurrah.
Richardson’s 3 with :32.5 to play tied the game at 62-all. Seconds later, a Coosa steal led to Richardson’s decisive basket at :21.7.
Hooper had 5 rebounds and 4 assists, while Caldwell cleared 8 boards and handed out 6 dimes. Lunsford hauled in 9 boards and had 2 assists. Hedden grabbed 8 rebounds and hit all 3 of his shots (two from the field, one from the line) for 5 points. Taylor McClure gobbled up 10 boards to go with 2 assists. Brown had 4 boards. Isaac Chandler had two rebounds.
Rabun County 47, Hayesville 46
Hayesville overcame an 11-point deficit and led with less than a minute to go Wednesday before Rabun County made a big play in the waning seconds to steal victory.
Hayesville was up 46-44 when traveling was called and Rabun County took possession with :31 on the clock.
Hayesville actually got a good look at the basket on the other end, but a jump shot barely missed, and an attempted putback at :02 didn’t go.
Hooper led Hayesville with 12 points (3-of-5 from the field). Troy McClure scored 10 (4-of-9 from the field), Caldwell had 9 (3-of-3 from 3-pointland and 3-of-4 from the free throw line), Lunsford added 6, Brown had 3, and Lee tallied 2.
Reboundingwise, McClure and Lunsford led the way with 8 apiece. Caldwell had 5, and Hooper cleared 4.
Caldwell also had 5 steals, while McClure led Hayesville in assists with 4.