Highlands – It was deja vu for the Hiwassee Dam girls basketball team on Feb. 22.
For the third time in two weeks, the Lady Eagles played Highlands in a game with serious implications. The first was for the Little Smoky Mountain Conference regular season championship. The second was for the conference tournament championship. The third was in the first round of the state 1A playoffs.
Just like the previous two games, the Highlanders came away with a decisive win, 66-43. It was the fourth time Highlands beat Hiwassee Dam this season, as they also won 47-30 at The Nest on Dec. 20.
Sydney Payne led the team with 14 points in her final game as a Lady Eagle, and Kiera Taylor was the only other Hiwassee Dam
(11-14 overall) player in double figures with 11. The 26th-seeded Lady Eagles tried to limit No. 7 seed Lady Highlanders point guard Hayley Borino, but that only opened up opportunities for other players.
Reese Schmitt scored a game-high 19 points for Highlands (17-9), while Julia Schmitt added 15.
The Lady Highlanders got off to a blazing hot start from the field, jumping out to a 14-3 lead with 2:44 left in the first quarter. Hiwassee Dam answered back with an 11-4 run to cut the lead early in the second quarter. It was all Highlands after that. The Lady Highlanders answered with a 40-10 run to lead 58-24 near the end of the third quarter, running away from the Lady Eagles for the fourth time this year.
It was the final game for three Hiwassee Dam seniors: Riley Payne, Sydney Payne and Ashlyn Stiles. All three were in the Lady Eagles playing rotation this year. Hiwassee Dam will welcome back its two leading scorers in Taylor
and freshman Olivia McNabb, along with two other starters from this year’s team.