Middle school Black Knights best Eagles, win tournament
Hayesville – For the first time since 2014, Robbinsville can lay claim to the Smoky Mountain Conference Middle School Title.
A 43-41 win over the Hiwassee Dam/Ranger Eagles (No. 3 West seed) Jan. 23 in Hayesville secured the Black Knights’ basketball bragging rights.
“When we played Hiwassee Dam here, we won by 20 points,” Robbinsville head coach Warren Knott said. “I told them that wasn’t going to happen in the championship game; it’s rare that you beat a team by 20 points in a championship game because they’ve earned a right to be there, too.
“Hiwassee Dam played good. They’ve got some good players, and I thought they matched up nicely with us.”
The Knights had built a 16-8 lead by the end of the first quarter, and even led 35-27 at the outset of the fourth. But Robbinsville’s offense stalled in the fourth period, while the Eagles surged back with the championship clinging in the balance.
The Black Knights’ turned the ball over with less than 30 seconds left – with Hiwassee Dam/Ranger’s Dominick Rummler committing the thievery – and the Eagles called a timeout, down by two. The Knights’ set up their defense for the potential game-tying shot, but Hiwassee Dam/Ranger missed a layup with three seconds left, allowing Robbinsville to celebrate with the crown.
“It was just a good, championship game,” Knott said. “I felt like our kids had a different attitude in the tournament of, ‘OK, we’re going to have to play every minute of every game as hard as we can.’ We had two slip-ups during the season, and I felt like we should have been undefeated.”
Xander Wachacha dropped a team-high 15 points for the Black Knights. Also scoring was Donovan Carpenter 11, Roman Jones 6, Bryce Adams 6, Zeke Silvers 3 and Tytan Teesateskie 2.
Robbinsville finishes the year 14-2 overall and entered the tournament as the No. 1 East seed.
Ode to 8th-graders
Three Black Knights will move up to the high school ranks, but Knott made sure to give his younger players a bevy of game experience this season, which will pay dividends when it comes time to defend the championship next year.
“I was blessed to have those eighth-graders (Wachacha, Carpenter and Silvers); they really grew up throughout the season,” Knott said.
“They had the physical tools; I just tried to help them with the mental part of the game. They all brought some different stuff to the table, which is good.
“Our goal is to repeat. We’ve got a target on our back, of course. People realize we have a pretty good team and we should have a pretty good team next year. A lot of those guys will put in the appropriate time needed for us to be successful next year.”