Hiwassee Dam – Once again, the Hiwassee Dam boys basketball team found itself in a battle late. Five of their six wins entering Friday night’s game against Copper Basin, Tenn., had come by eight points or less, and the Cougars made sure it would come down to the last few possessions again.
The Eagles controlled the game from about midway through the second quarter until the early minutes of the fourth, when the Cougars went on a 7-0 run to trim their lead to 60-58 lead with 1:28 left.
But after a missed shot, Leo Hickson corralled the rebound and passed ahead to Clay Davis for the layup. Two free throws from Jonah Hamby pushed the lead to 64-58 with 36.4 seconds left. Then Davis came up with a big block, and found Preston Hyde down court for an easy layup to seal a 66-60 win and a rivalry night sweep over Copper Basin.
“Any time you play Copper Basin, you’ve got kids and families on both sides, first cousins on both sides,” head coach Mark Raper said. “It don’t matter what the records are, it’s going to be a battle.”
The Eagles (7-9 overall) had found themselves in a similar situation three days earlier against Cherokee (10-7), leading 53-50 heading into the fourth quarter before coming up short 70-66 in a chippy contest. It didn’t look it would be another dogfight at halftime, with Hiwassee Dam leading 33-24 and starting to take control.
After both Hamby and Davis went to the bench with two fouls by the first minute of the second quarter, the Eagles relied on their bench to help spark a 19-3 run for a 31-20 lead. Reserves Kyle Taylor and Tanner Taylor scored 10 points during the run, and Hyde started to get into a groove on his way to a game-high 21 points.
“My bench played well,” Raper said. “They came in and helped us out when a few starters are struggling. They knew their role and they did it. That’s what teamwork is about.”
Hiwassee Dam continued to counter Copper Basin’s run throughout the second half, until the Cougars made one final push in the games’ final minutes. Hiwassee Dam transfer Justus Hamby kept Copper Basin (2-14) in the game with some timely shooting, but it was Riley Angel who scored six straight to cut the lead to 60-57. Then Reece Parris hit one of two free throws to get within two.
But the Cougars couldn’t come all the way back, giving both Hiwassee Dam teams a season sweep of Copper Basin for the first time since the 2016-17 season.