Putting it all together… Lady Cyclones put pieces of the puzzle together perfectly in win
Published 12:16 am Thursday, February 13, 2020
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton guard Torrie Roberts moves the basketball past a South defender.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Lina Lyon of Elizabethton goes up for an easy two points in Tuesday's win over South.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Cyclone cheer coach Megan Ellis holds the newest member of the EHS Cheer Squad as Hayes Wilder Ellis meets her new teammates. Hayes came to wish all the senior cheerleaders the best of luck on Senior Night Tuesday when the Cyclones played Sullivan South. Hayes is the daughter of Carter County Register of Deeds Jarrod Ellis.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton's Kaitlin Bailey looks to go baseline against the South defense.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Lady Cyclone senior Kelsie Winters has the target zeroed in as she goes in for a basket in EHS win over South.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton's Morgan Headrick and Kaitlin Bailey have a Lady Rebel hemmed in defensively.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
Whether it was just the special night of honoring their seniors or finally realizing how good of a team they can really be, it was hard to decipher on Tuesday night inside John Treadway Gymnasium as Elizabethton and South tangled in Three Rivers Conference play.
For Lady Cyclone head coach Lucas Andrews, the game was a long time in coming as he has waited for his team to put everything together like it did on Tuesday and the result was a 61-27 thrashing of the Lady Rebels on Senior Night.
“I felt like all year we would get a run and get a lead and then we would let teams ease back in it and make it a dogfight the entire game,” said a pleased Andrews after the contest. “They got up and we took a run and our whole team no matter what group we put in was able to knock down the shots tonight.
“Confidence is huge going into the tournament because this league is so tough you have to be prepared every night. If we can just keep that confidence going, I am really excited about what this team can do.”
The Lady Cyclones showed their fans what they can do right out of the gate as it seemed that no matter whether it was an outside shot or an inside post-move, Elizabethton had the shooter touch.
Morgan Headrick was doing most of the damage early on in the first half as she knocked down eight points in the opening half helping Elizabethton to a 31-13 lead after holding South to only two points in the second quarter of play.
Headrick had plenty of assistance in the first 16 minutes of play as Kaitlin Bailey and Torrie Roberts chipped in with six points apiece. Senior Kaylen Shell added five solid points while Lina Lyon dropped in four.
Renna Lane added a bucket.
The Lady Cyclones (16-10, 7-4) continued their hot play into the second half as they kept the pedal to the metal to run away with the contest.
Headrick finished as the leader on the offensive end with 14 points in the contest. Bailey finished up her Senior Night performance with 12.
Lyon and Roberts contributed with eight points apiece. Seniors Shell and Cheyenne VanHuss finished with seven and six points respectively.
Rounding out the scoring were senior Kelsie Winters with four points and Renna Lane with two.
McKenzie Littleton led the Lady Rebels (9-17, 2-9) with eight points and Nicole Troutman totaled six in the losing cause.
Andrews had nothing but praise for the leadership he has received from his senior group and commented by saying, “They are a great group of girls. They worked hard and set the tone. You have kids that have came in from different places and they have just meshed well. I credit the seniors with keeping the mesh and the right attitude that we need.
The Lady Cyclones wrapped up their regular-season slate Wednesday night against Unicoi County and the district tournament begins later next week.
