Hayesville – Hiwassee Dam basketball head coach Mark Raper liked his team’s effort against Hayesville on Dec. 19.
The Eagles kept close for almost three quarters, but one thing made the difference down the stretch. The Yellow Jackets swarmed Hiwassee Dam down low, going to work inside and getting second-chance opportunities to pull away late for a 72-53 win.
“We played well,” Raper said. “They’re just a little more physical than we are. The game turned on offensive rebounds. They were just a little more physical than us. Everything else I was happy with, the way my team played. Everything else was pretty good.”
On a night where Hayesville (5-1 overall) unveiled its 2022 state 1A championship banner, the Eagles continued to hang around. The Yellow Jackets were sloppy in the first quarter, and head coach Mike Cottrell pulled his starting five for a whole new group about halfway through the opening frame. Despite that, Hayesville never trailed, but never pulled away until later in the second half.
The Yellow Jackets led 28-21 at halftime, and Hiwassee Dam (3-5) stayed in the game thanks to hot shooting by Preston Hyde. The senior scored 13 of his 16 points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer that trimmed the Hayesville lead to five about midway through the frame. But the Eagles couldn’t get a stop, and Hayesville slowly started to build the lead.
Back-to-back buckets by Asher Brown and Kyle Lunsford pushed the lead to 52-41 by the end of the third quarter, then a second-chance layup by Seth Hedden and another layup by Lunsford extended the lead to 15 at the start of the fourth quarter. When Lunsford wasn’t going to work inside, players like Brown and Isaac Chandler were able to penetrate for good looks. The Yellow Jackets led by as many as 21 in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles start play in the Swain County Christmas Tournament today against Mitchell at about 2:30 p.m. After the New Year, nine of their 13 remaining regular-season games will be at home.
“We play hard every game,” Raper said. “We haven’t played well every game, but you play hard every game. You play hard all the time, you get better. We’re slowly getting better.”