Hiwassee Dam – The Eagles’ varsity basketball teams celebrated homecoming Friday night and split their games against Summit Charter.
The boys played first and won 61-27 before the girls lost 61-53 in a hard-fought battle.
Boys win big
The night started with the boys defeating the Bears of Summit Charter 61-27.
The Eagles got on the board first with an Abel Penland layup. The Eagles pulled away to 9-0 after Jonah Dockery slammed home a dunk.
Dockery dominated the first quarter with 17 points, including four 3-pointers. The Bears scored their first points of the game after the Eagles scored nine unanswered.
Summit scored multiple late 3-pointers to get back into the game. The Eagles took a 10-point lead late before both teams scored late points. The Eagles took a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Eagles continued to pull away in the second quarter. Dockery and Jimmy Kelly controlled the corners, as they both nailed 3-pointers from there.
The Eagles took a 20-point lead in the final minute then led 40-18 at halftime. After homecoming festivities, the Eagles continued to roll in the third quarter.
The Eagles held the Bears scoreless for more than four minutes to start the third quarter. The Bears then went on a run to cut into the Eagles’ lead, but the Eagles bounced back to lead 56-24 heading into the final frame.
The Eagles took a 59-24 lead early in the fourth quarter, reaching the magic number of a 35-point lead, as the rest of the game was a running clock. The Eagles went on to win after a low-scoring fourth quarter.
Dockery led the Eagles with 26 points. Also in double digits with 10 points each were Kelly and Xavier Johnson.
Girls lose close game
The Lady Eagles battled Friday night but fell to the Lady Bears 61-53. Eight seconds into the game, newly crowned homecoming queen Brooklyn Orton drained a 3-pointer for the Lady Eagles’ first points of the game.
Summit claimed its first lead of the game with 5:12 left as they led 6-5. Abby Harris then hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Eagles the lead back.
Both teams battled for the lead early, but the Lady Bears led 20-13 heading to the second quarter. Summit Charter pulled away as they took a 10-point lead just under halfway through.
The shots were falling for the Bears, but the Lady Eagles struggled to score as Summit took a 40-24 lead to halftime. The Lady Eagles bounced back in the third quarter to get back into the game.
Hiwassee Dam cut the lead to 10 points with 1:22 left. The Lady Eagles shut them down on defense late in the quarter and closed the gap to six points heading into the final frame.
Summit bounced back in the fourth quarter, extended its lead to 10 points just under two minutes into the quarter. The Lady Bears maintained their lead late into the game despite the Lady Eagles fighting to the end.
Brinkley Payne led the Lady Eagles with 23 points Friday night.
Two other Lady Eagles were in double digits, as Orton scored 17 points and Harris had 12.
Up next
The Eagles will hit the road Friday to face conference opponent Highlands. They will then return home to face Robbinsville on Monday.
For both games, the girls will play at 6:30 p.m., and the boys will play right after.