It was supposed to be a boys and girls basketball shootout between the Elizabethton Cyclones and Daniel Boone Blazers, but when the Boone boys decided to bypass the contest it turned out to be ladies night only on the hardwood.

There were two games on tap Saturday night at John Treadway Gym as the Elizabethton and Boone junior varsity ladies tipped off the evening followed by a varsity contest.

The Lady Cyclones rolled to their 17^th straight win on the season against no losses, but this game with the Lady Blazers was vastly different from the first matchup in which Elizabethton dominated on Boone’s home court.

Boone got the upper hand briefly in the opening half, but the Lady Cyclones came out of the locker room leading 20-18 and turned up the octane defensively to pull away down the stretch in taking a 58-39 win Saturday before a large, boisterous crowd.

“Their zone defense is so good because they have such great length and size,” said Elizabethton head coach Len Dugger. “I will say this, I knew they would get better, and they basically are fairly young, and Coach Mains does a good job, but they played much better and we didn’t play as well as we did over there.

“We probably relied too much on the rhythm or momentum in how our shots fell. Making no excuses, but we are a little tired and a little under the weather. Some kids with that stomach thing. No taking anything away from their effort because they did a really nice job.”

Offense was almost absent in the opening half as Elizabethton took a 12-10 lead after one and both teams battled to an 8-8 tie in the second quarter.

The Marosites twins were doing much of the damage as Kayla hit for eight points and Kelci seven in the first 16 minutes of play.

Emily Schubert added three and Emily Kiser two points during the same span.

For Boone, post Sydney Pearce was having her way in the first period scoring six points, but got into foul trouble being saddled with her third personal with a little over four minutes left to the half.

The Blazers continued to battle as Montana Riddle drilled a trey to keep the Blazers in the game leading to intermission.

When the Lady Cyclones took the court again, there was no doubt the intensity level had risen three notches as the press began to force Boone into turnovers and easy buckets for ‘Betsy.

“In the second half, we willed the second half and were much more competitive,” said Dugger. “The press was really kind to us in the second half. I thought our kids fed off it and got some emotion. When you can get turnovers and easy transition baskets, it just helps the kids to loosen up.”

Elizabethton topped the Lady Blazers in the third quarter 18-10 to extend the slim halftime edge to 38-28 heading into the final quarter.

Kiser showed some resemblance of her old self as she scored six in the period after battling illness over the last week. Schubert and the Marosite twins netted four points apiece as well in the frame.

Macie Culbertson paced the Lady Blazers with five in the quarter.

With the Lady Blazers finally starting to wither from the pressure, the Lady Cyclones continued their onslaught in the final period by knocking down 20 points in the last eight minutes of play and holding Boone to only 11.

Kayla Marosites scored eight including 6-of-6 from the charity stripe while sister, Kelci, connected for seven with a trey ball in the mix.

Pearce did a nice job of staying in the game with four fouls to add five in leading Boone in the stanza.

Kayla Marosites led all scorers with 20 for the contest. Kelci Marosites logged 18 points while Kiser registered 11 and Schubert nine.

Pearce had 13 to pace Boone. Culbertson added 11 points.

Schubert had an all-around good game adding nine rebounds, two assists, one steal, and a pair of rejections. Kayla Marosites reeled in eight boards, had six steals, and added an assist as well for Dugger’s team.

Junior Varsity

Elizabethton…56

Boone…………50

In the junior varsity game, the Lady Cyclones jumped out front at the intermission by a 26-15 advantage behind the play of Bailey Montgomery who rattled home nine points in the first 16 minutes of play.

Ashley Depew and Morgan Jones also had a large contributing role as they both netted five points apiece. Brittany Campbell added four.

Bayleigh Carmichel’s eight points kept Boone in range while Symantha Fugate chipped in with six for the Lady Blazers.

It was Boone being the aggressor coming out of the locker room as Fugate came out with some juice in her step to total 11 points in the third quarter to pull her team with two, 35-33, at the end of the stanza.

Boone had pulled even at 33-all at the 1:49 mark of the quarter.

Camryn Koroma worked hard in the post to drop in four points to lead the Lady Cyclones while Depew added three points.

Depew was the difference in the contest in the final quarter as she put Elizabethton on her back to carry them to the win as she scored eight of her 16 points in the final eight minutes.

“Ashley stepped up and led us at the guard spot,” said JV head coach Todd Whittemore. “She got her hands on loose balls, had deflections, took it to the hoop, got that steal on the inbounds play and scored while drawing the foul.

“She gets a lot of credit especially with Autumn (Lyon) going out in leading us back. All the girls really stepped up.”

Montgomery had a solid night registering 13 points while Koroma added 11 points. Jones closed out the contest with seven with Campbell and Autumn Lyon finishing with six and three points respectively.

“I am so proud of the girls for stepping up because we actually went down by one when Autumn went out and then we went on a run, and I just thought everyone picked it up a level,” said Whittemore.

“We try to have a family atmosphere and when one of the sisters is sick or not doing well, then it’s time for others to step up, and I felt like that happenedtonight.”

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Junior Varsity

Elizabethton, 56-50

Boone (50)

Ciara Thacker 8, Kaitlyn Harville 7, Bailey Dye 7, Symantha Fugate 19, Bayleigh Carmichel 9.

Elizabethton (56)

Morgan Jones 7, Ashley Depew 16, Autumn Lyon 3, Bailey Montgomery 13, Brittany Campbell 6, Camryn Koroma 11.

Boone………..   6   9  18   17 – 50

Elizabethton…19   7    9   21 – 56

3-PT GOALS: Boone 5 (Symantha Fugate 2, Bayleigh Carmichel, Ciara Thacker, Bailey Dye). Elizabethton 2 (Autumn Lyon, Ashley Depew).

 

Varsity

Elizabethton, 58-39

Boone (39)

Kaitlyn Harville 1, Macie Culbertson 11, Emily Sizemore 2, Montana Riddle 3, Bayleigh Carmichel 3, Jaclyn Jenkins 6, Sydney Pearce 13.

Elizabethton (58)

Kayla Marosites 20, Kelci Marosites 18, Emily Kiser 11, Emily Schubert 9.

Boone………..10    8   10   11 – 39

Elizabethton…12   8   18   20 – 58

3-PT GOALS: Boone 2 (Montana Riddle, Bayleigh Carmichel). Elizabethton 5 (Kelci Marosites 2, Emily Kiser 2, Kayla Marosites).