Lady ‘Landers rout Lady Vikings 54-25 on hardwood
Published 4:14 am Thursday, December 12, 2019
Star Photo/Danny Blevins Cloudland’s Heaven Caraway (#2) drives to the basket to score two of her six points against Avery County.
Star Photo/Danny Blevins Cloudland’s Kaylen Fields guards an Avery player during Tuesday night’s game.
Star Photo/Danny Blevins Cloudland's Gracie Freeman goes to the basket to score two of her 15 points on the night.
BY DANNY BLEVINS
STAR CORRESPONDENT
The Cloudland Highlanders girls’ basketball team came into Tuesday night’s game against the Lady Vikings of Avery County confident, poised and riding an eight-game winning streak. They had little trouble finding their ninth win.
The Lady Landers defeated the Lady Vikings 54-25 in what can only be called a rout.
Cloudland’s ladies were hitting on all cylinders as they came into the first quarter. Their offense quickly put points on the board with a fast break that would make some college teams proud.
Matt Birchfield’s Lady ‘Landers do not have a great deal of height so they depend on their quickness to get turnovers and their speed to score points after the turnover.
They gave a clinic in this technique on Tuesday night, and the Lady Vikings could do little except watch as the score stretched to 19-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Cloudland did not let up on their pressure defense during the second quarter, and by the half, Cloudland had stretched their lead to 14 points. The Lady Vikings knew they had a long road to get back in this game as the score set at 28-14 at the half.
Cloudland’s defense was the star during the third quarter as well as they held the Lady Vikings to only two points for the entire quarter.
When the buzzer sounded to end the third, Cloudland had stretched their lead to 30 points, and it was time to let the players on the bench see some playing time.
The Avery County girls did not give up until the final buzzer but the Cloudland defense made their life miserable during the fourth quarter and only allowed them to score nine points during the period. The game ended with Cloudland winning the game 54-25 and taking a ninth win to the bank.
Cloudland was led in scoring on the night by two of their quick guards. Junior guard Gracie Freeman scored 15 points for the night and she was followed closely by Cloudland’s senior guard Kenzie Birchfield who scored nine points.
Adding to Cloudland’s scoring was Karah Fields who scored eight points, Heaven Caraway added six points and Jasmine Birchfield who also had six points. Leah Birchfield dropped in four points as Mandy Benfield and Taylor Hicks both scored three points apiece for Cloudland.
Avery County did have eight players who scored during the game. Hannah Ruth Crosby, Reagan Hughes, Alexis Stines, and Emree Hoilman all had four points for the Vikings. Lila Cantrell had three and Tiffany Broco, Brooke Ingram and Addie Beck all had two points each on the night.
The Lady Landers will take their 9-1 record to Kingsport on Friday night for a conference game against the Sullivan North Raiders.
