A night after taking it on the chin against Morristown East, the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones were in the mindset to erase the non-conference loss by taking down Three Rivers Conference foe Sullivan South inside John Treadway Gym.

With the return of senior Brittany Campbell from a torn meniscus surgery, the Lady Cyclones were a different team as Coach Barry Johnson’s squad roared to a 35-14 halftime and cruised in the second half to the 23-point win to stay perfect in conference play.

“I have seen this type of game coming,” said Johnson on his team’s play. “We have had some excellent practices. We played two good games at the tournament at Pigeon Forge, but had times where we couldn’t get a win.

“Having Brittany back for her first game since November was a big, big deal for us, and we are happy to have her back. She plugged a big hole for us rebounding.”

With eight players recording at least a bucket in the first 16 minutes of action, the Lady Cyclones managed to create some much needed breathing room heading to the second half.

Haley Burleson netted eight first-quarter points to set the tone while Campbell collected six in her first game back. Autumn Lyon and freshman Kaitlyn Light also had contributing roles totaling five in the half.

The Lady Cyclones buckled down defensively to hold the Lady Rebels to only six points in the third quarter while scoring 15 of their own to blow the game open.

Burleson had another solid quarter offensively as she would go for five in the stanza.

With the game in hand, Johnson went all the way to the end of the bench in the final quarter as every Lady Cyclone that dressed saw action.

Burleson led the Lady Cyclone charge with a game-high 13 points followed by 10 points from Campbell.

Light had a solid evening with seven points with Loran Campbell collecting six points. Lyon and Shell finished with five.

Halle Dykes had eight points to pace South while Nicole Troutman added seven points.

Campbell said it felt great to be able to get back into action.

“I was nervous, but I was ready to play because I missed it a lot,” said Campbell about being able to rejoin her team. “It was hard mentally, but I just had to put it behind me. Those first two points helped to relieve my nerves.”

The Lady Cyclones (6-7, 3-0) will have their hands full Friday night when they travel to Bluff City to tangle with the Sullivan East Lady Patriots with first place on the line in the early going of the conference slate.

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Elizabethton, 58-35

Sullivan South (35)

Halle Dykes 8, Meredith St. Clair 5, Emily Ireson 3, Madeline Leslie 3, Hannah Clark 6, Nicole Troutman 7, Maddie Townsend 2, Malayna Johnson 1.

Elizabethton (58)

Ashley Depew 4, Kaylen Shell 5, Haley Burleson 13, Kaitlyn Light 7, Autumn Lyon 5, Bailey Montgomery 4, Loran Campbell 6, Morgan Jones 1, Brittany Campbell 10, Abbey Townsend 3.

Sullivan South……    8     6    6   15 – 35

Elizabethton……… 20   15   15    8 – 58

3-Pt Goals: South 3 (Halle Dykes, Madeline Leslie, Meredith St. Claire). Elizabethton 3 (Kaitlyn Light, Kaylen Shell, Abbey Townsend).