Lady ‘Landers win two, Lady Rangers split in East Invitational
Published 2:15 am Tuesday, November 26, 2019
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Star Photo/C.Y. Peters Unaka freshman Mailey Guy goes up for a shot in Saturday's action.
Star Photo/C.Y. Peters A Lady Ranger works her way toward the goal.
Star Photo/C.Y. Peters A Lady Ranger applies the pressure against an East ballhandler.
Star Photo/C.Y. Peters A Cloudland Lady 'Lander gets a shot over the outstretched hand of a State Line Rush defender.
BY C.Y. PETERS
STAR CORRESPONDENT
BLUFF CITY – Sullivan East’s Hayley Grubb was in an automobile accident earlier in the week but on Saturday she almost rallied her Lady Patriots to a comeback win.
A three-pointer that would have tied the score and sent the game into overtime, circled the rim twice before it fell out and Cloudland held on to win 42-39.
East trailed the entire game with the Lady ‘Landers doubling the score 10-5 after one and would lead 19-15 at the half.
Jena Hare scored 13 points to lead the Lady Patriots who outscored Cloudland in the final half 24-23 but the first-half lead never could be caught.
Heaver Caraway and Mandy Benefield scored 12 points each to lead the Lady ‘Landers while Kenzie Birchfield ended with seven.
Game 2
Unaka…………55
State Line……32
Coach Ronnie Street once said, “if my team can hit ten three’s we can win the game”. The Unaka girls connected on nine threes in the final half and eleven in the game to win over State Line Rush 55-32.
The game was close in the first with Unaka holding a slim one-point lead 7-6. Freshman Lyndie Ramsey tossed in 18-points for the Lady Rangers hitting three straight threes in the third.
The Rangers took control of the game in the second quarter with their full-court press and strong rebounding led by Macy Ensor who also scored eight points.
Unaka pulled out to a 43-26 lead and went on to win 55-32.
“I thought we played hard and got to get a lot of players playing time. Ensor hit a couple of big shots early and Ramsey played a good game, we all played pretty good and played better,” said Unaka head coach Kenneth Chambers.
Game 3
Cloudland……62
State Line……..36
Matt Birchfield put his team back on the floor for Cloudland’s second game of the afternoon taking on the State Line Rush.
The Lady ‘Landers jumped out to a 19-0 lead before Beth Clark would score for the Rush. Cloudland would lead 23-4 at the first stop.
Mandy Benefield scored 12 points in the first half as the Rush tried to battle back in the second on back-to-back-to-back threes by Rebekah Clark but would trail 37-20 at halftime.
In the second half, Cloudland would hold State Line to only two points in the final period for a 62-36 win.
The Lady ‘Landers had 10 girls that would score in the game. Mandy Benefield led the way with 14 points, Gracie Freeman would score 10.
Beth Clark led State Line with 15.
Game 4
Sullivan East.. 56
Unaka…………33
The Lady Rangers had no answer for the Lady Patriots shooting in the final game at Sullivan East High School on Saturday.
Unaka fell behind 16-8 and would go four minutes before scoring when McKenzie Depew nailed a three.
That was as close and the Rangers could get in the first half as East pulled away to a 26-15 halftime lead.
East had pulled out to a 13-point lead before Unaka hit a couple of long shots to pull the Rangers back within seven points but East would hit two free throws with less than one second left in the quarter for a 37-28 lead.
The final quarter would belong to the Lady Patriots as with 2:39 left to play in the game they were up 53-33. The one-two punch of Hare and Grubb was just too much for the Lady Rangers losing to the Lady Patriots 56-33.
Hare scored 17 and Grubb 13 for East while Depew led Unaka with 11 and Ramsey followed with 9.
Game 1
Cloudland 10 9 12 11 -42
East 5 10 10 14 -39
Cloudland: Benefield 7, Caraway 12, L Birchfield 2, M Benefield 12, J. Birchfield 2, Freeman 6.
East: Aubrey 9, Hodge 5, Grubb 12, Hare 13.
Game 2
Unaka 7 17 19 12 -55
State Line 6 3 17 6 -32
Unaka: Houghton 3, Ramsey 18, T. Whitehead 3, J. Whitehead 4, Grindstaff 6, Forney 3, Ensor 8, Rice 3, Guy 4, Depew 3.
State Line: A. Clark 3, R. Clark 14, B. Clark 9, Neal 3, L. Neal 3.
Game 3
Cloudland 23 14 13 12 -62
State Line: 5 15 14 2 -36
Cloudland: Caraway 5, Hicks 4, K. Birchfield 3, M. Benefield 14, L. Benefield 6, Fields 4, J. Birchfield 6, Freeman 13, Karah Fields 4, E. Benefield 3.
State Line: A.Clark 4, R. Clark 11, B. Clark 15, Neal 4.
Game 4
Unaka 8 7 13 5 -33
East 16 10 11 19 -56
Unaka: Ramsey 9, Whitehead 4, Forney 3, Ensor 6, Rice, Depew 11.
East: Aubrey12, Brinnymin 5 Hodge 2, Grubb 13, Hare 17, Minley 3 Malcolm 2.
