Murphy – After defeating Robbinsville in the opening round of the Big Smoky Mountain Conference tournament, the Andrews girls varsity basketball team fell to Cherokee in the second round.
The Lady Wildcats headed to Murphy High School to compete in the Big SMC tournament.
Cats defeat Knights
The Lady Wildcats defeated Robbinsville 51-48 in a close game on Feb. 17 in the first round of the Big SMC tournament.
The Lady Knights took an early lead, but the Cats fought back to lead 10-9 after the first quarter.
Both teams battled in the second quarter with neither team taking control of the game. After multiple lead changes, they went to halftime tied at 26.
Andrews went on a run early in the third quarter to take the lead, but then Robbinsville fought back to take the lead with just under three minutes left. After late points, the Knights led 39-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
Robbinsville led for most of the fourth quarter, but with 2:53 left the Cats tied the game at 44.
The Lady Wildcats then took the lead in the final minutes and
maintained it to win the game 51-48.
Drea Cutshaw led the Lady Cats with 18 points. Marley Blackwell was also in double digits with 10 points.
With the win, they advanced to face Cherokee in the second round with a chance to go to the championship game.
Girls fall to Braves
On Feb. 18, the Lady Wildcats took on the Cherokee Lady Braves.
The Lady Braves did what they do best – score and score often. The Lady Wildcats fell 70-29 to conclude their conference tournament.
It took five seconds for the Lady Braves to get on the board, then they went on to score 31 unanswered points before the Lady Wildcats got on the board.
The Lady Braves led 36-5 after the first quarter, then extended their lead to 46-12 at halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Cherokee extended their lead past 35 points to trigger running clock for the remainder of the contest.
At the end of the third quarter, the Lady Braves led 55-18.
In the running clock fourth quarter, Cherokee extended its lead to 70-29 to win the game.
Cutshaw and Blackwell led the Lady Wildcats again with eight points each.
Up next
The Lady Wildcats secured No. 6 seed in 1A West state playoffs. They received a first round bye and will host the winner of Chatham Charter vs. Ascend Leadership Academy on Thursday.