Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville's Brady Reynolds, No. 14, delivers his textbook jumper for 3 at Towns County.
By Gary Corsair
Senior Sports Writer
Hayesville trailed by a bucket entering the fourth period at Highlands on Tuesday but rallied behind the scoring of Slade Crouch, Cooper Matheson and Jackson Sellers to claim the Yellow Jackets first win of the season, 45-44.
Matheson’s slick steal and layup put Hayesville in the driver’s seat, 42-41, and Crouch and Sellers sealed the deal.
The Jackets prevailed despite making just 3-of-10 free throws during the fourth quarter.
Matheson led the comeback with 6 of his 11 points in the final act, while Sellers tallied 5 of his 11, and Crouch contributed 4 of his 22 points.
Brady Reynolds was the only other Jacket to score. He drilled a 3-pointer in the opening quarter.
Crouch led Hayesville in rebounds with 7. Matheson was the top thief with 4.
“They’re trying hard, we just have to get better at the things we need to do,” Coach Mike Cottrell said Monday. “But this team’s going to be a good. We just have to keep on trying.”
The Yellow Jackets return to action Friday at Swain County. Next week, Hayesville plays at Cherokee on Tuesday and hosts Towns County on Saturday.
Hiwassee Dam 57,
Hayesville 49
The first half belonged to Hayesville, the second to Hiwassee Dam.
The Eagles trailed 34-26 at the intermission but got back into the thick of things when the Yellow Jackets went cold for 3:48 early in the third quarter.
Hiwassee Dam took a 44-41 lead into the final stanza but suffered its own frigid streak, which allowed Hayesville to reclaim the lead, 45-44, on a Slade Crouch jump shot with 4:59 remaining.
The Eagles answered with two free throws, but Crouch tossed in another jumper thanks to a stellar screen by Brendan Lynch to knot things at 47 with 3:14 left to go.
Then, in a blink, Uncle Mo jumped ship.
Hiwassee Dam scored on a baseline bucket, stole the ball, made a 2-dollar deposit on a fast break layup and tallied 4 free throws to put the game on ice.
The Jackets tried to get up off the mat in the final minute-and-a-half, but came up empty with two missed free throws, 0-for-3 field goal shooting and 0-for-2 flinging from behind the 3-point arch.
“We’re still not making good decisions,” Hayesville Coach Mike Cottrell stated. “Dribble penetration is the key to winning and we don’t do it, but we allow them to do it. When that happens, you’re going to get beat a lot.”
Hayesville was doing the beating early on. The Jackets came out of the gate rip snorting and with enough energy to power a small city. The Black-and-Gold rolled to a 7-0 lead, survived a Hiwassee Dam surge and increased its advantage to 19-12 by the end of the first quarter with a balanced attack that featured sparkplug Riley Rogers nailing his only 3-point try, grabbing three defensive rebounds and chasing down loose balls, Crouch handing out three assists, canning two shots and blocking a shot and an inspired performance by Brendan Lynch off the bench.
Lynch made an immediate impact when he entered the game with 4:33 on the first-quarter clock. The Sublime Sapling promptly blocked a shot, then grabbed a rebound. Two minutes later, he swished a 3-point salvo. He added another 3-point ball and another block as Hayesville surged to a 17-9 lead.
Not to be outdone, Brady Reynolds scored and blocked a shot, while Crouch dished an assist and tallied on a fast break layup to put Hayesville up by 10.
Hayesville delivered more romp and stomp in the second quarter as Eli Chandler cut through the lane for 2, Reynolds cleared a board and bombed a 3, Lynch nailed another triple and Crouch added an assist and a runner for a bucket that elevated Hayesville to a 29-16 bankroll.
Hiwassee Dam rallied to cut the lead to 4, but Cooper Matheson hit a deuce, Reynolds made a hustle play for an offensive rebound and Lynch grabbed a miss and alertly turned it into a basket with 11 ticks on the clock to give Hayesville a 34-24 halftime lead.
Hiwassee Dam turned the tables in the second half by outscoring their guests 25-15 to secure the Indians fourth win in five games.
Crouch led Hayesville in with 13 points and five assists. Lynch added 12 markers, four rebounds and two blocked shots. Reynolds totaled 9 points and four rebounds. Sellers kicked in 6 points and four boards. Matheson had 4 points. Rogers added 3 points and four caroms. Chandler contributed 2 points.
Towns County 67,
Hayesville 51
Hayesville didn’t fare nearly as well Friday at Towns County.
The Yellow Jackets committed 23 turnovers and made just 7-of-24 three-point tries and 2-of-7 free throws in their season debut against a speedy, aggressive team with a two-game win streak and six games under its belt.
“Our defense was breaking down and it caused a lot of problems,” Cottrell stated.
The Jackets didn’t score for the first 3:11 of the game. By the time Reynolds busted a 3, Towns County led 9-3.
Hayesville trimmed the lead to 11-8 with a swish by Crouch and another long ball by Reynolds, but Towns went on a tear and finished the first act with a 23-11 hold.
The Indians increased their lead to 23 by the half (48-23) by repeatedly getting to the free throw line, where they cashed in 11-of-17 in the first two quarters. Meanwhile, Hayesville was only awarded 4 free throws.
Towns County increased its lead to 29 late in the third quarter.
Hayesville nibbled away and got within 15 as Crouch attacked and attacked and attacked. He finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 field goal shooting. Reynolds added 18 points by nailing 6-of-13 from distance.
No other Jackets scored more than 2 points.
Landon Trout contributed five rebounds, 2 points and two assists, Sellers added 5 boards and hit his only shot attempt, Chandler cleared three caroms, and Lynch had two caroms and two steals. Rogers scored 3. Matheson had a pair of steals and a bucket. Michael Colandrea made his only field goal try.