Lady Knights halted by Lady Jackets in overtime
Robbinsville – Coming off a decisive 45-29 win over Highlands on Jan. 4 – vindicating a 51-48 overtime triumph at Highlands on Dec. 8 – the Lady Knights appeared poised to steer the ship back on course in divisional action Friday.
What they could not have anticipated was their second home, Smoky Mountain Conference loss in a row, as Hayesville (9-4, 2-1) escaped Robbinsville (9-2, 1-2) with a 48-47 overtime victory.
“I reminded the girls Monday at practice that on that exact date last year, we were 8-3. We are 9-2 this year,” Robbinsville head coach Lucas Ford told The Graham Star, after mulling the week over for a few days. “I also told them that the rest of the season – just like last year – will be exactly what they make of it.
“I’m a firm believer in reaping what you sow and we agreed as a team that we – starting with myself – can and will do better.”
Aubrie Wachacha and Liz Carpenter split the bill on Robbinsville’s offense in the early going, finding themselves responsible for the first eight of the Knights points. The flurry led to a 12-6 advantage by the end of the stanza, which compounded into a 20-10 lead at the 2-minute mark of the second.
Hayesville quickly sped back into the mix with a 9-0 run to close the half, which ended on a pair of Mallory Peck foul shots with five seconds remaining.
Carpenter again sprung to life in the third, hitting a three and recording seven overall in the segment. Robbinsville ultimately outscored Hayesville 12-4 by the fourth, but the Jackets kept pestering the scoreboard. Ava Shook dropped her third from outside in the run, with Peck finding herself back at the line for the game-tying free throw to end a 15-6 Hayesville spurt – and two minutes to go.
Bryleigh Krieger would deposit the go-ahead layup for the Jackets with 1:10 left, but Wachacha cemented the need for overtime by cleaning up Suri Watty’s missed 3-pointer on a putback. With free basketball underway, Watty made a rare drive inside late and drew a foul. She went 1-of-2 on the series, before Peck again came through for Hayesville by nabbing a rebound and handing off to Krieger for a layup to put the Jackets ahead 48-47 with eight seconds left.
In full desperation mode, Robbinsville drove up the floor – but a travel was called on Abby Wehr with 2.9 seconds remaining, squandering the comeback effort.
“Through the first three quarters, I really felt like we played as good defensively as we had all year,” Ford boasted. “This was a game we never should have lost. We couldn’t get out of our own way in the fourth.”
Wachacha went through a series of putbacks, jumpers and free throws in the early going against Highlands (1-12), opening a quick 8-0 lead for Robbinsville. The Lady Highlanders attempted to hang around by posting their only double-digit segment of the game in the third, outscoring the Knights 15-10 in the stanza.
Robbinsville promptly went on a 15-4 run in the fourth that eliminated any possibility of an upset.
“We got a good lead out of the gate and played pretty good for the most part,” Ford assessed. “We have had a 15-plus point lead multiple times this year and in a few short minutes, the lead is gone and we are in a dogfight.
“Our conditioning and understanding of situations – and just overall experience – is a direct result of this and will definitely improve the more we play.”
Junior varsity
In Friday’s opener, Robbinsville (3-1) downed Hayesville 33-27 in junior-varsity action.
Maleah Cox led the Lady Knights with 13 points, five steals, two rebounds and one assist. Mykayla McGuire finished with eight points, two rebounds and two steals, while Novie Dutcher and Katie-Lyn Gross both dropped four each.
Rounding out the effort was Ella McGuire 3 and Bentley Riggins 1.