The Elizabethton Lady Cyclones found out a valuable lesson on Friday night inside John Treadway Gym as the Gate City Lady Blue Devils came prepared for a fight and gave the Lady Cyclones all they could handle.

Leading only 34-26 at the intermission, Elizabethton finally turned up the defensive intensity in the second half and pulled away behind 31 points from Kayla Marosites to take a 71-47 win to remain undefeated.

The win sets up a marquee contest Saturday night between Greeneville 9-0 and the Lady Cyclones 7-0 in what could be a preview of a possible regional matchup down the road.

“We just didn’t have the chemistry we normally have offensively, but I felt like we played a really good team,” said Lady Cyclone head coach Len Dugger on the lackadaisical early start. “They have two girls that have signed Division 1 scholarships, and they played with a lot of effort, a lot of grit, and a lot of mental toughness.”

Kayla Marosites kept the Lady Cyclones going early as she hit 17 of her 31 points before the half. Marosites sister, Kelci, helped out with seven while struggling to get her game going.

Gate City, meanwhile, was leaning on Keeley Quillen who swished the nets for eight. Rachel Kilgore chipped in with six points as the Lady Devils from Scott County, Va. wasn’t showing any signs of letting up.

Coming out of the break, the Lady Cyclone defense was hitting on all cylinders holding the Lady Blue Devils to only five in the third quarter.

Kayla Marosites added five more to her column, but it was the play of Emily Schubert that seemed to stimulate the offensive effort for Elizabethton. Schubert nailed four points while doing the little things like stealing the basketball or hitting the boards that seemed to right the Lady Cyclone ship.

Elizabethton finished off the contest by outscoring Gate City 20-16 in the fourth for the win.

Emily Kiser continued to be a solid contributor offensively for the Lady Cyclones by reaching double digits with 14 points.

Kelci Marosites finished with 13, while Schubert logged out with eight points.

Kiser had eight rebounds on the night and one assist, while Kayla Marosites pulled down seven boards, had a blocked shot, three steals and two assist.

Schubert added seven rebounds to go along with two blocks and four steals.

“Gate City was pretty physical—it was a lot tougher than I expected,” said Kayla Marosites after the contest. “We just needed to play hard in the game to pull it out.

“We felt like we didn’t come out in the first half like we wanted to,” she added. “Coach Dugger got on us, and we picked it up in the second half.”

The Lady Cyclones take on Greeneville at 7:30 pm following the Hampton and Gate City game which starts at 6 pm.

Greeneville 45, Hampton 32 (Girls)

Hampton showed no concern that they were going up against a Class AA school that came into the contest with a perfect 8-0 record on the season. The Lady Bulldogs  out hustled the Lady Greene Devils on the boards and the floor for 24 minutes.

But like a cake baking in an oven implodes when a door gets slammed, the Lady Bulldogs deflated down the stretch, losing 45-32 to Greeneville.

Trailing only four at the half, 22-18, the Lady Bulldogs came out and evened the score in the third quarter at 22-all and played pretty evenly throughout the period as the stanza ended with the Lady Greene Devils holding onto a 32-27 lead.

The fourth quarter was the down fall for Hampton as several turnovers at key intervals allowed Greeneville to gain the momentum and take the win.

Alexus Grubbs paced the Lady Bulldogs with 14 points while Hope Bridgeman and Stephanie Carriger each netted six points each.

Sydni Lollar led all scorers with 16 points for Greeneville. Mindy Neas reached double figures with 10 points.

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Elizabethton, 71-47

Gate City (47)

Sarah Kilgore 6, Kayla Bird 1, Rachel Kilgore 14, Kate Pendleton 3, Kaely Gose 6, Keeley Quillen 11, Jordan Houseright 6.

Elizabethton (71)

Kayla Marosites 31, Kelci Marosites 13, Melenda Perry 2, Emily Kiser 14, Haley Burleson 1, Emily Schubert 8, Brittany Campbell 2.

Gate City……….. 12   14     5   16 – 47

Elizabethton……. 13   21   17   20 – 71

3-pt goals: Gate City 6 ( Keeley Quillen 2, Rachel Kilgore 3, Kate Pendleton). Elizabethton 9 (Emily Kiser 3, Kayla Marosites 3, Kelci Marosites 3).

Greeneville, 45-32

Hampton (32)

Megan Garland 4, Alexus Grubbs 14, Shyanne Tuelle 2, Hope Bridgeman 6, Stephanie Carriger 6.

Greeneville (45)

Kenzie Ellenburg 6, Sydni Lollar 16, Katelynn Hadjopoulos 2, Sydney Leonard 2, Leah Fillers 3, Mindy Neas 10, Brianna Lay 4, Jordan Davis 2.

Hampton………..  9    9    9     5 – 32

Greeneville..…….14    8  10   13 – 45

3-pt goals: Hampton 4 (Hope Bridgeman 2, Alexus Grubbs 2). Greeneville 3 (Sydni Lollar, Mindy Neas 2).