After snow threw a wrinkle into hardwood play last week, the Elizabethton Cyclones were looking to shake off some rust after the small break.

Hosting the Morristown West Trojans on Monday inside a toasty John Treadway Gym, the Cyclones didn’t play one of their most attractive contest of the season but did play well enough to gain a season split with the Trojans taking a 48-37 win.

The Cyclones had lost by two points in overtime to the Trojans in Morristown earlier in the season.

“A win is a win,” said Cyclone head coach Lucas Honeycutt. “We went down to Morristown and got beat by two, and I didn’t think we played particularly well. We made some adjustments, and we are a lot different team now than what we were then.

“Tonight, we did a better job at the things that are going to make us successful,” added Honeycutt. “The last few games we haven’t done a good job with that. I thought our kids did a much better job of listening tonight and that was what put us in a position to get us over the hump.”

The first half of the contest was pretty much a yawner offensively as neither team could really get in rhythm as Elizabethton (10-9) did just enough to take a 20-13 lead to the locker room.

Michael Robinson accounted for nine of the 20 as he connected on three shots from beyond the arc for nine points in the half.

Hayden Townsend chipped in with four points and Jaylen Smith added three points to help build the seven-point advantage.

Brendon Wilson’s six points were tops for the Trojans in the half while Gage Whitaker collected the only trey of the contest for West in the half for three points.

Elizabethton exited the half and behind the play of Teve Mushayamunda and Townsend extended the lead at the end of the third quarter to 32-20.

Mushayamunda dumped in six points in the frame while Townsend continued to play solid with four points. It was perhaps Townsend’s best game of the season to date.

“Hayden has had some better practices as of late,” said Honeycutt. “He has really tried to make it a point to show us what he can do in practice.

“We put him in the starting lineup tonight, and he made a few good plays and hit some big shots at key moments of the game,” Honeycutt added. “He went to the boards pretty hard on the defensive end as well.”

The fourth quarter was an ugly one for both teams as both teams combined went to the foul line 29 times.

Robinson hit 6-of-11 from the charity line and added a field goal for eight in the period and a game-high 17 points to insure the Cyclones would get the win.

Townsend was 4-of-4 and added a bucket to total six in the period and finish with 14 for the contest. Mushayamunda logged out with eight points, while Smith collected five. Carter Everett and Adam Cornett accounted for two points apiece.

Wilson’s 11 points led Morristown West. Daymion Blevins added eight.

“Every game is going to mean something,” summed up Honeycutt when talking about the win. “You can’t overlook anybody. We have to go out and play our best game against North tomorrow night, and we have South at the end of the week that played us tough at their place.”

“We will have to continue to build on this win,” Honeycutt added. “We did some good things tonight, and we just need to keep working toward the tournaments and hopefully by then we will be peaking.”

Tuesday Night Game Note: Sullivan North will be in town tonight for two games as the Lady Cyclones look to remain perfect with a 6:30 pm tipoff while the boys will close out the night at 8 pm. There will be NO junior varsity games against North per Cyclone athletic director Mike Wilson.

Junior Varsity

Elizabethton….….47

Morristown West..42

In the night’s opening contest, things weren’t looking too good for the Cyclones heading into the final quarter of play as the scoreboard read 35-29 in favor of the Trojans and the momentum on West’s side.

However, Elizabethton refused to fold their tent and came storming back to take a 47-42 win over the visitors.

Solid foul shooting by Eric Wilson in the final eight minutes were key to the win as Wilson hit nine of his game-high 12 points in the stanza.

The Cyclones also received solid treys from Evan Perkins and Christian Price in the closing period which led to the win.

Perkins collected nine points as did Jacob Norris in a contributing role for the Cyclones. Price added six points.

Garrett Jennings strong post play at both ends of the court was instrumental as Jennings added four points and several key rebounds for the contest.

Groner led Morristown West with 10 points in the game. Connelly added eight.

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Elizabethton, 48-37

Morristown West (37)

Brendon Wilson 11, Casey Turner 3, Gage Whitaker 7, Aaron Jones 6, Mason Bare 2, Daymion Blevins 8.

Elizabethton (48)

Adam Cornett 2, Michael Robinson 17, Teve Mushayamunda 8, Jalen Smith 5, Hayden Townsend 14, Carter Everett 2.

Morristown West…..5   8     7   17 – 37

Elizabethton………11   9   12   16 – 48

3-PT GOALS: Morristown West 1 (Gage Whitaker). Elizabethton 3 (Michael Robinson 3).