Hayesville – Though it led for almost the whole game, Hiwassee Dam girls basketball could never breathe easy against Hayesville until the final buzzer on Dec. 19. The Lady Eagles’ largest lead the whole night was nine points, but they held strong against their own mistakes and potential Yellow Jackets rallies to come away with a hard-earned 45-38 win.
With wins over Murphy and Andrews already this season, the Lady Eagles have wins over three Big Smoky Mountain Conference teams for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
“At the end of the day, when you go on the road on the win you take it,” head coach David Payne said. “And try to learn from it and get better next time you’re in those situations.”
Once again, the Lady Eagles (4-4 overall) were paced by Kiera Taylor and Olivia McNabb, who finished with 15 points and 14 points, respectively. Either McNabb or Taylor have either led Hiwassee Dam in scoring in each of its first eight games this year.
Taylor’s 3-pointer late in the first quarter gave the Lady Eagles a 10-8 lead, and they didn’t trail the rest of the night. Hiwassee Dam’s early hot shooting caused Hayesville to back out of its 2-3 zone into a more 1-2-2 trapping look, and the Lady Eagles responded by trying to get the ball inside to McNabb and Allison Stiles.
The Lady Jackets’ only consistent offense all night came from senior Lila Roberts, who finished with a game-high 23 points.
Several times, it looked Hiwassee Dam was about to go on a run, only for Hayesville to get a quick bucket or two. The Lady Eagles led 24-18 at halftime, then 30-24 at the end of the third quarter.
Their only score in the last six minutes of the frame came on a tough layup by Katie McNabb. On the other end of the floor, they couldn’t keep the Lady Jackets off the offensive glass, but Hayesville struggled to finish.
“In the third quarter, we just didn’t rebound,” Payne said. “We gave them four or five opportunities at scoring and couldn’t get them off their end of the floor. We just didn’t do a good job rebounding.”
A layup by Bryleigh Krieger at the end of the third quarter, and a jumper by Roberts to start the fourth quarter, trimmed the Hiwassee Dam lead to four. Olivia McNabb would split a pair of free throws on two straight possessions to push the lead back to six, then got a key second chance layup to extend the lead to eight.
Roberts would respond for Hayesville, then after a travel, the Lady Jackets had a chance to make it a one possession game, but Brinkley Payne came up with a steal and then scored on the next possession. Two free throws from Roberts and a Mallory Peck layup cut the lead to four again, but Payton McNabb hit a 3-pointer with about three minutes left, then Taylor hit a floater to push the lead to nine with two minutes remaining.
“Our girls are playing hard they’re learning,” Payne said. “Sometimes you have to do things wrong before you figure out how to do them right. Some of those end of game possessions, putting the ball in the basket, that just comes from concentration. We’ll keep working at it and keep improving.”
Heading into the first game of the Swain County Christmas Tournament against Mitchell today, Payne likes where his team is at given the circumstances. The Lady Eagles started practicing a week and a half later than they could because they needed to find a coach, time that could’ve been spent adjusting more to Payne’s style before the games come fast and furious. But Hiwassee Dam has still been in all but one of its games so far this season, with plenty of room to grow.
“That’s a good start,” Payne said. “And I feel like if we go through the Christmas break here, polish up on some stuff and get some people a little more confidence, we can finish the second half of the season.”