Hooping it up… Middle school jamboree kicks off roundball action in county
Published 1:17 am Saturday, October 26, 2019
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
Basketball has arrived!
Thursday night at Cloudland High School the first annual Cloudland Highlander Middle School Jamboree kicked off with 14 teams taking the court in 20-minute running clock contests.
Based on the level of play, there should be a lot of fun, competitive games this season as every team was laying it all out on the line with the games not counting toward regular-season standings.
The Hunter Lady Tigers opened the jamboree facing off with Johnson County and in a close contest was able to squeeze by the Jr. Lady ‘Horns, 18-15.
Both teams hooked back up in boy’s play with Johnson County using its height and quickness to take a nine-point win, 24-15.
Host Cloudland took to the court following Johnson County’s victory as the Cloudland Lady Highlanders came out playing just like they took a short nap after their state tournament appearance last season and just woke up to pick up where they left off.
The Lady ‘Landers won going away over the Blountville Lady Tigers by 14 points, 20-6, playing with tenacious full-court defense and hitting from inside and out.
Cloudland’s boy’s matched their female counterparts as the Highlanders took down the Tigers by an 18-8 score.
Everyone expected the next pair of contests to be very competitive and they got their money’s worth as Hampton and T.A. Dugger took to the floor.
In girl’s play, it was a back and forth contest before Hampton settled to pull off a two-point win, 18-16, over the Jr. Lady Cyclones.
The boy’s game was exciting too as the results were flipped with the Jr. Cyclones overcoming a deficit late to defeat the Jr. ‘Dogs, 21-19.
Cloudland’s ladies took the court one more time to take on the Happy Valley Jr. Lady Warriors. The Lady ‘Landers jumped out front early but Happy Valley kept coming before Cloudland prevailed 12-8.
The best game was saved for last as 20 minutes couldn’t settle the Cloudland and Happy Valley’s boy’s game with the score ending in a 14-14 deadlock forcing a sudden-death overtime.
In overtime, each team had its opportunity as the rafters were shaking from fans from both sides being deeply rooted in the contest as a deep breath was taken on every shot.
The game was finally settled as Cloudland hit the winning bucket to take a 16-14 win.
Several local teams will be back in action at the Blountville tournament coming up this week.
All photos were taken by Ivan Sanders.
