After leading in the first quarter, the Unaka Lady Rangers could not maintain their edge as they loss 65-54 to the Volunteer LadyFalcons Saturday during the second day of the Trailblazers Classic at Daniel Boone.

“We got a little bit behind, but we came and played with effort today,” Lady Rangers head coach Kenneth Chambers said. “We were just wanting to come and play hard and play as a team. We gave up to many rebounds. We knew they were a big team, and that we needed to keep them off the board. . . Our defense was not bad, we just gave up to many second shots.”

As the buzzer signaled the end of the first frame, Unaka led 24-17. However, that lead would not hold as the Lady Falcons went on a blistering 21-6 run in the second period — leaving the score 38-32 in favor of Volunteer at halftime.

Things leveled out in the third as Unaka out scored Volunteer 12-11. In the fourth it would be the steady and consistent foul shooting of the Lady Falcons that was the determining factor. Volunteer went 13 of 17 from the freethrow, with Josie Salyer hitting 8 of 8. Salyer finished the night with 23 points.

Unaka’s Hannah Tipton led the way for the Lady Rangers as she scored 18 points. She was followed up by Cheyene Drew, who had 14 points. Drew also ended the game with four treys.

Volunteer 65

Salyer 22, Felgemacher 15, Ross 10, Knittle 6, Lane 5, Clinker 3, Tomlinson 2, Hensley 2

Unaka 54

Hannah Tipton 18, Drew 14, Weaver 10, Wright 4, Burrow 2, Ensor 2, Doss 2, Sarah Tipton

Volunteer 17 21 11 17 — 65

Unaka 24 8 12 10 — 54

3-points goals— Volunteer 4 (Clinker 1, Salyer 1, Lane 1, Felgemacher 1. Unaka 5 (Drew 4, Ha. Tipton 1)

Click here for more photos from game.