Lady Cyclones 74, Lady Raiders 24

KINGSPORT— Just like a bicycle that sits for a while gathering pieces of rust, Coach Len Dugger’s Elizabethton Lady Cyclones were squeaking a little themselves as they hit the hardwood at Sullivan North for the opening Three Rivers Conference contest of the season.

After a little oiling from their coach, the wheels starting loosing up, and it was all downhill for Elizabethton as the Lady Cyclones took a 74-24 win.

“We didn’t shoot it well to start,” said Dugger after the contest. “I thought we gave a good effort and played hard. We got some positive things there.”

The reigning Miss Basketball for Class AA, Kayla Marosites, picked up where she left off last season scoring 13 first-quarter points to stake the Lady Cyclones to an early 25-8 advantage at the first stop.

Kelci Marosites, Emily Kiser, and Haley Burleson added four points apiece to contribute to the lead.

Elizabethton continued to turn up the heat in the second period as the Lady Cyclones outscored North 26-9 to take a commanding 51-17 lead going into the locker room.

The scoring was spread out as Kiser turned several Lady Raider turnovers into easy buckets scoring eight points to show the way. Post Emily Schubert used her length to do damage on the interior as she and Kayla Marosites each chipped in with seven points in the stanza. Erin Schwartz tallied seven in the first half to lead the Lady Raiders.

The second half wasn’t much different than the first as the Lady Cyclones came out of the locker room and netted 19 points in the third while defensively holding North to six points.

Kiser continued her hot play, scoring seven in the quarter, including a trey. Melenda Perry collected six points from her guard position.

The fourth quarter was a sleeper as neither offense could produce much. Elizabethton closed out the contest with four points in the final period, while North only scored one.

Bailey Montgomery and Brittany Campbell recorded the only points of the quarter for the Lady Cyclones scoring two each.

For the contest, Kayla Marosites was the game-high scorer with 23 points, five rebounds, five steals, seven assist and a blocked shot. Kiser finished with 19 points, six rebounds, four steals, and three assist.

Schubert finished with double figures as well recording 10 points to go along with six rebounds and five blocked shots. Kelci Marosites didn’t score many points, adding only six,  but she swept the boards for seven rebounds while dishing out three assist. She had four steals and a block.

Schwartz led North with 10 for the game.

Cyclones 76, Raiders 54

The Elizabethton boys made it a clean sweep on the evening by taking a 22-point win in the night cap.

Elizabethton had a quartet of players that hit double figures led by Michael Robinson with 15 points which was good enough for game-high honors.

Bo Pless tickled the twine for 14 points while Alex Norwood had a solid outing hitting for 13. Hayden Townsend netted 11 points.

Zack Byrns led North with 13 for the game, scoring 11 of those in the second period.