Lady Knights hit skid
Robbinsville – When the Hiwassee Dam/Ranger rolled into the Robbinsville Elementary School Gym parking lot Dec. 7, a lot of anticipation followed suit.
The second game of the year was in the back of both teams’ minds: Robbinsville had won the Nov. 9 appointment, 52-44. Leave it to the Knights to dampen the visitors’ spirits. Perhaps it was the 25-6 first quarter that set the tone. Head coach Jonathan Allison instead chose to focus the credit on the 66-22 win in the direction of having his full roster available, hungry for the No. 1 seed in next month’s conference tournament.
Robbinsville got its wish just four days later. By way of a 62-38 road drubbing over Cherokee on Monday, the Black Knights are now in a prime spot to dance atop the season-ending standings.
In the Dec. 7 win over Hiwassee Dam/Ranger, Cameron Allison dropped 22 on the Eagles to lead the Black Knights. Xamuel Wachacha put up 15, while Elijah Kirkland posted 10.
Others to score were Eli Lambert 9; Bam Nelms 4; and Landon Eddings, Carsan Snider and Peyton Weaver contributed a basket each.
Allison again landed 22 to lead his team in Monday’s win. Eddings recorded 16, with Wachacha mixing in 10.
Fanning out the scoreline was Lambert 6; Kirkland 4; and Nelms and Snider, 2 apiece.
Lady Knights
Entering December, Robbinsville Middle’s girls were 4-2.
But in a manner most confusing, the Lady Knights have not found the win column since. Robbinsville is now 4-5, following a pair of losses to Hiwassee Dam/Ranger (37-35) and Cherokee (57-30).
Zayleigh Chekeleelee led the Lady Knights with 12 points. Barlow collected 10, while Zaelyn Phillips had five.
Rounding out the scoring for Robbinsville was Zachlan Chekeleelee 4; Cassidy Sudderth 3; and Aaliyah Wolfe 1.
Things were simply derailed Monday when Zayleigh Chekeleelee had to exit the game in the second quarter after taking a devastating bump onto the hardwood. At that point in the game, the Knights only trailed 24-20.
Despite her early exit, Zayleigh led the offense with 10 points. Also scoring was Phillips 7; Zachlan Chekeleelee 6; Sudderth 3; and both Brooklyn Cox and Wolfe, 2 each.