Cyclones topple Patriots to move on to finals

BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN

CORRESPONDENT

BLUFF CITY – Elizabethton junior post Conley Bowers was a force in the paint that Sullivan East had trouble contending with on Saturday afternoon in the district 1-AA boys basketball semifinal played at Dyer Dome at Patriot Palace.

The Cyclones connected on seven long range shots and the combination of inside and outside was too much for Sullivan East to handle as the Cyclones won 74-53 to put themselves into the district final on Monday.

“A lot depends on us, on how we play in the next round,” said Cyclones head coach Lucas Honeycutt. “We have to be able to play four quarters. Our half court defense was better tonight and that’s a key for us. We have a lot of people that we can count on to score for us.”

Bowers scored 12 first half points as the Cyclones took a 32-25 lead into the break and EHS (19-10) connected on four triples in the first half. Austin Cornett had two trey’s and six points in the first half, while Gavin Grubb tallied eight for the Patriots.

East (21-9) closed to within 37-32 in the third period on the strength of a trey from Hunter Owens and buckets from Grubb and Hunter Davis before Bowers struck for a bucket and the foul for a 40-32 Cyclones advantage.

After a scoreless first half senior forward Tyler Nichols asserted himself in the third period with five points as EHS led 53-39 after three quarters were in the books.

Sophomore guard Michael Robinson dropped in four three’s and scored 16 points for the Cyclones and one of those bombs gave EHS a 66-48 lead with 4:43remaining.

“Conley played the best game I have seen him play,” Robinson said. “He was getting double teamed low and sending kick outs which opened things up outside. I think we are starting to find out what combinations work best and our offense has always been there.”

Robinson and Bowers each finished with 16 points to lead the way for EHS, while Grubb tallied 16 to lead East.

“Robinson is a baseball kid, you ask him, he loves baseball,” Honeycutt said. “But lately he has been coming to the gym and working later and later on his own and I think he is liking basketball just as much. I think there are more big things ahead for him.”

 

BOYS

Elizabethton 74-53

Sullivan East (53)

Grubb 16, Effoe 2, R. Frye 2, A. Frye 4, Johnson 3, Owens 4, Davis 4, Green 12, Becker 2, Littleford 4.

Elizabethton (74)

Green 10, Robinson 16, Jones 1, Nichols 8, Cornett 10, Pless 11, Bowers 16, Mushayamunda 2.

Sullivan East        11 14 14 14 – 53

Elizabethton         20 12 21 21 -74

3-point goals : SE 4 (Grubb 1, Johnson 1, Littleford 1, Owens 1), EHS 7 (Robinson 4, Cornett 2, Green 1)

 

Fast start triggers Lady Cyclone win

BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN

CORRESPONDENT

BLUFF CITY – Strong defense and foul trouble by Happy Valley’s junior post Kalee Johnson allowed the Lady Cyclones to roll to an early lead and remain unbeaten as EHS (26-0) defeated the Lady Warriors 69-24 to advance to the final on Monday.

With Johnson collecting three first quarter fouls the Cyclone posts had a field day inside the paint. Sarah Robinson scored eight first half points with Megan Pietrowski adding seven and Emily Schubert six as EHS took a 42-9 lead into the halftime break.

“When Megan is on there isn’t anyone that can guard her,” Robinson said. “We knew Kalee was in foul trouble so we wanted to attack there. A lot had to do with we haven’t played in a week and we were ready to go. Everyone wanted to do their best and there is no limit to what we can do.”

Twin wings Kayla and Kelci Marosites contributed 21 points to the EHS first half point explosion with Kelci scoring 12 and Kayla nine.

The Cyclones defensive dominance continued into the third period with Robinson contributing three steals and as many layups off those thefts. HV had seven turnovers in the early stages of the third period as the Cyclones left the Warriors for dead with a 61-17 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Kayla Marosites finished with a game high 17 points with Robinson scoring 16 and Kelci Marosites adding 14. For HV, Johnson had a team high seven points.

“Kalee is a tremendous player and we respect her a lot,” said Lady Cyclones head coach Len Dugger. “The way we compete, we talk a lot about intensity and we work on it in practice. These girls have been in this situation before and they know what they are trying to accomplish.

“This is not a cocky group, but they are confident. They get worked extremely hard in practice and get put in a lot of different situations and they feed off one another. I have said this many times, but I am a very blessed coach.  This is a team that night in, night out can have someone different step up.”

 

GIRLS

Elizabethton 69-24

Happy Valley (24)

Woods 3, Johnson 7, Eaton 2, Street 5, Reece 3, Whitaker 4.

Elizabethton (69)

Ka. Marosites 17, Ke. Marosites 14, Perry 3, Robinson 16, Schubert 9, Montgomery 1, Campbell 2, Pietrowski 7.

Happy Valley       5   4   8  7 – 24

Elizabethton         15 27 19  8 – 69

3-point goals: HV 2 (Woods 1, Street 1), EHS 6 (Ka. Marosites 3, Ke. Marosites 2, Perry 1)