Hiwassee Dam – The Eagles boys basketball team hosted Nantahala on Jan. 30, when the Eagles defeated the Hawks 90-52.
Hiwassee Dam got out to an early lead and never looked back. At the end of the first period, they led 34-18, then continued scoring to take a 56-26 lead to halftime. The Eagles held the Hawks to nine points in the third period to enter the final frame leading 80-35. The Eagles soared to the end of the game to pick up the win at home.
Two Eagles players had more than 20 points. Jonah Hamby led the team with 25, with Clay Davis scoring 22. Aiden Bennett had 11 points and went 3-3 on free throws. Cole McCoy led Nantahala, scoring 30 of their 52 points.
The Eagles fell to Robbinsville 79-74 on Thursday. The Black Knights led for most of the game, with the Eagles close on their heels.
Robbinsville had a strong first period, scoring on numerous fast-breaks to take a 26-15 lead at the end of the first. The Eagles tightened the gap after making tough shots in the paint to head to halftime down by three points.
After halftime, the Eagles took the lead, but the Black Knight regained the lead and went up by eight points heading into the final period. Robbinsville scored almost every time they went up the court, which helped them take the lead.
Missed opportunities and not capitalizing on errors made by the Black Knights resulted in Hiwassee Dam losing the game by five points. Eagles head coach Mark Raper said they played the best on offense they have all season Thursday.
Raper said his whole team played well against the Lady Knights.
“We all played good. Clay [Davis] played excellent and Jonah [Hamby] played good until he got hurt. My whole team played well. I can’t say one played better than any other,” he said. “We rebounded the ball, but we just didn’t take advantage of a few opportunities we had.”
Raper added that he hopes their preparation in playing out-of-conference teams will help them in conference play.
“Hopefully the whole season has led us in here because these last two weeks we’ve got 80 percent of our conference games. So, playing all the Big Smoky teams and out-of-state teams had led us to playing the Little Smoky teams,” he said. “When you go on the road anywhere it’s a lot harder, so playing teams like we have should have us prepared.”
On Friday, the Eagles took on Little Smoky Conference opponent Blue Ridge Early College, winning 73-34.
The Eagles got out to a hot start taking the lead 22-3 after the first period. In the second, the Eagles scored 26 more points to lead 48-21 at halftime.
To kick off the second half, Hiwassee Dam added on to their lead by scoring 17 points in the third period. The Eagles scored eight points in the final period to cap off a 73-34 win.
Clay Davis led the Eagles with 22 points on six two-point shots, and he also made three shots beyond the arc. Dawson Headley had 16 points where he also made six two-pointers. For Blue Ridge, Ethan Henson led the team with 13 points.
Hiwassee Dam has a 5-13 overall and 3-5 in the Little Smoky Conference. Their next game is Thursday, when they travel to take on Cherokee.