Highlands – After fending off a late comeback by Highlands in the championship game, the Hiwassee Dam boys varsity basketball team successfully won the Little Smoky Mountain Conference with a 52-51 victory.
With the win, the Eagles are back-to-back LSMC champions. They beat Highlands in successive years to win the title.
The Eagles started off the championship game Thursday with 14 points in the opening quarter. They were bed by Aidan Bennett, who had six points. The Eagles led by five points heading into the second quarter.
In the second period, the Eagles added 13 points to their total to lead 27-20 at halftime. Luke Harbin and Braiden Ledford both had four points in the second quarter, while Bennett had two points on free throws.
The game got closer coming out of halftime, as Highlands outscored the Eagles 16-14 in the third quarter. Despite being outscored, the Eagles took a 41-36 lead to the fourth quarter.
After a scoreless first half, Jonah Dockery exploded for nine points in the third quarter.
Heading down the stretch in the fourth quarter, the game got even closer. Highlands outscored the Eagles again in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles hung on for the win.
The Eagles were led Thursday night by 16 points from Bennett, who had eight points in each half. Dockery had 15 points, all in the second half.
Round out the scoring for the Eagles were Dalton Kester with six points, Ledford with five, Jack Raper with four, Harbin with four and Isaiah Crisp with two en route to the Eagles winning the conference.
Because they won the conference championship, the Eagles automatically got a first-round home game in the playoffs.
In the first round, Hiwassee Dam played host to East Wilkes in the state 1A playoffs after the Cherokee Scout’s press time Tuesday. Results will be in the March 5 edition of the local newspaper.
First round
To make it to the championship game, the Eagles defeated Blue Ridge Early College 76-37 on Feb. 18, their third win over the Bobcats this season.
The Eagles started the game with a huge first half. In the first quarter, they scored 24 points, then followed it up with 25 more in the second quarter to lead 49-19 at halftime.
Jonah Dockery had a big first half with 18 points. Luke Harbin had 11 first-half points, while Jimmy Kelley had eight points.
Coming out of halftime, Hiwassee Dam extended its lead with 16 points in the third quarter. Dockery led the way with eight more points to bring his total to 26 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles sat their starters so the whole team could play. They scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, led by Brock Hyde with four points. Aiden Weaver, Darius Pope, Pace Ware and Avery Taylor also scored points in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles were led by Dockery with 26 points. Harbin was also in double digits with 13.