Hiwassee Dam – The Lady Eagles girls basketball team hosted Nantahala on Jan. 30, defeating the Lady Hawks to pick up their fourth straight win.
The Lady Eagles started the game hot, dropping 27 points in the first quarter. They went on to score 20 points in the second period to take a 47-13 lead into halftime.
Nantahala kicked off the second half by outscoring the Lady Eagles 10-6 in the third period. Hiwassee Dam got back into form for the final period by scoring 15 points and only allowing the Lady Hawks to score four.
Olivia McNabb led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 21 points, going 8-10 on two-point shots and 2-4 on free throws. Meanwhile, Brinkley Payne went 8-12 on two-point field goals and made both of her free throws, which got her 18 points. Brooklyn Hyde had 13 points after going 5-12 on two-point shots and 3-4 on free throws.
On the other side of the court, Zoey Passmore led Nantahala with 13 points. Delaney McLean had eight points, while Summer McMahan had six points.
Hiwassee Dam head coach David Payne said his team played well.
“This was a total team effort, with each player contributing to the win,” he said.
On Thursday, the Lady Eagles used the energy in “The Nest” to get a 60-58 win over Robbinsville in a game that came down to the final second.
The Lady Black Knights got out to an early lead and maintained it for the majority of the first period. In the second period, Hiwassee Dam began to pick up steam.
The final minutes of the first half were back and forth, with multiple lead changes. Robbinsville took a 33-30 lead into halftime after a game-tying 3-pointer from the Lady Eagles was nullified due to a traveling call.
In the second half, the energy in The Nest began to take flight, with the crowd roaring after each made shot by the Lady Eagles. A series of made free throws gave them a five-point lead, which they maintained into the fourth period.
Robbinsville fought back to tie the game at 52 with under five minutes to play. After a Hiwassee Dam timeout in the final minute, they began to full-court press, which resulted in the Lady Black Knights feeling the pressure and missing a chance to take the lead.
With the clock expiring, the Lady Eagles pushed toward the basket, and Olivia McNabb drained a shot from the paint to win the game. The Nest erupted as the Lady Eagles notched their fifth straight win to remain undefeated in the Little Smokey Mountain Conference.
Olivia McNabb led the team with 19 points and went 3-5 on free throws, while Olivia Williams had 16 points and Brinkley Payne 15. Liz Carpenter led Robbinsville with 20 points, while Aubrie Wachacha had 13 points and went 3-4 on free throws.
Lady Eagles head coach David Payne said despite being down a starter, his team played well.
“We were down one of our starters, so we had to have some girls step up and played a lot more minutes than what they have been playing,” he said.
“We got sloppy at times, and we needed to be able to handle their pressure a little better. Overall, I was pleased with our effort.”
Payne emphasized that the win against Robbinsville was a team effort.
“We had different people step up in that first half. Brickley Payne led us with our scoring and kept us on the scoring side of it. Olivia McNabb was in foul trouble and, of course, the shot at the end,” he said.
“It’s just a good group effort. Our girls play hard, and on different nights it’s different people. They don’t care who gets it as long as the job gets done.”
With the final stretch of games coming up, Payne said the main focus is winning the Little Smoky. With the game close in the final minutes Payne said his message to the team was to not turn the ball over.
On Friday, the Lady Eagles closed out a busy week with a 58-26 win over Blue Ridge Early College.
Hiwassee Dam got out to an early lead ending the first period 19-2, which set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Lady Eagles took a 29-8 lead to halftime. They maintained the momentum by scoring 16 points in the third period, then scored 13 points in the fourth period to get their sixth straight win.
The Lady Eagles sit first in the Little Smoky Conference with a 10-0 conference record and 16-3 overall. Their next game is Thursday, when they travel to Cherokee to take on the Braves, who have a perfect conference record (7-0) in the Big Smoky Mountain Conference.