The Elizabethton Lady Cyclones were playing on their home court for the first time in a long while and were hoping to get a win before their home crowd to start 2017 off on the right foot.

However, the Morristown East Lady Hurricanes had a different ending in mind and thanks to solid offensive board work, the Lady Hurricanes fought off a fourth quarter rally by Elizabethton to take a 44-41 road win.

“Early in the game we were able to get some good looks at the basket,” said Lady Cyclone head coach Barry Johnson. “Then, we got impatient with the basketball and tried to do too much with it.

“When we were patient we had good looks and were able to hit a seam and penetrate. I thought the biggest factor in the game was rebounding,” Johnson added. “They had like 20 second-chance points.

“On the plus side, we are getting better. It’s almost like there’s a leak here and there’s a leak there, and we get one leak fixed and another pops up. We have to stay with it and stay focused.”

The Cyclones got off to a good start building an 8-2 lead about four minutes into the contest before Morristown East managed to get their footing to nudge ahead at the end of the first period, 13-11.

From that point, the contest was highly contested as it was almost like watching two thoroughbred horses racing to the finish line as the teams were neck and neck over the final three periods.

The second and fourth quarters were dead heats at 14-all and 10-all with the Lady Hurricanes skating by in the third period 7-6.

The difference in the contest came down to second chances as the Lady Hurricanes scored 20 points on 18 offensive rebounds which turned out to be the biggest difference in the contest.

Lady Hurricane Madison Bunch led all scorers in the contest with 21 points. She was joined in double figures by Kiara Moore with 14 points.

For the Lady Cyclones, senior Haley Burleson tallied 11 points to show the way for Elizabethton. Autumn Lyon and Bailey Montgomery netted nine points apiece for the Lady Cyclones.

Loran Campbell and Cameron Koroma collected four points while Kaylen Shell and Destiny Little tossed in a field goal each for two points.

“We have to be consistent on what we do as far as rebounding and defense,” said Johnson about what his team needs to do going forward. “We came out and practiced on Saturday and our patience was great.

“We came out in front of the fans and our patience was not as great. We tried to do too much.”

The Lady Cyclones have little time to rest as the Sullivan South Lady Rebels come calling for the first Three Rivers Conference showdown of the new year with a 6:30 pm tipoff.

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Morristown East, 44-41

Morristown East (44)

Mattie Bryant 3, Krista Felknor 4, Kiara Moore 14, Madison Bunch 21, Jaleah Patton 2.

Elizabethton (41)

Kaylen Shell 2, Destiny Little 2, Haley Burleson 11, Autumn Lyon 9, Bailey Montgomery 9, Loran Campbell 4, Cameron Koroma 4.

Morristown East….  13   14   7   10 – 44

Elizabethton………. 11   14   6   10 – 41

3-Pt Goals: Morristown East 2 (Madison Bunch, Mattie Bryant). Elizabethton 3 (Haley Burleson, Autumn Lyon, Bailey Montgomery).