Robbinsville girls fall in semifinal games
Cherokee – If the Lady Knights can get into a full-game groove, look out.
Flashes of the potential Robbinsville (No. 3 seed, 16-8) has still yet to tap into were on display in the first quarter of Tuesday’s Smoky Mountain Conference Tournament pairing against Hayesville (No. 2, 20-5). A 12-4 run made things look promising, as the Knights were looking to avoid three losses to the pesky Jackets this season.
Instead, the hot start turned into a cold finish. Second and third-quarter splits of six points per segment doomed the quest for a berth in the finals.
Ava Shook drained a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left before the break to tie the game 18-all; Hayesville later held off a rally bid in the fourth to prevail 46-35.
“We’re consistently up and down,” said Robbinsville head coach Lucas Ford. “That’s something we have to work on, program-wise. We’ve got to find consistency. We have to take care of the basketball. We have to value each possession.
“We play really hard; the effort is great. Our basketball IQ has gotten much better as the season has gone on, but we still have a long way to go.”
It did not help matters that foul trouble reared its ugly head early on. Coinciding with the dominant start was a lopsided foul count in the opening segment.
Guards Claire Barlow and Abby Wehr split the infraction count with center Aubrie Wachacha: each had two in the period. Barlow was up to three by halftime; even reliever Anna Williams committed three fouls before the break.
Hayesville had three in the first half.
“At one point, we had four post players on the floor because of the foul count,” Ford explained. “Not blaming the officials because we do play aggressive; we’ve just got to be smarter when we pick up 1-2 fouls in the first half.
“If we can extend games into the second half without getting too many fouls called on us, we can be more aggressive with our game plan and press a little bit – which is what we do well. But we can’t do that if we’re in foul trouble.”
Liz Carpenter led Robbinsville with 13 points, nine rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block. Wachacha’s night resulted in 12 points, four rebounds and a block; Suri Watty finished with six points, two steals, an assist and a rebound.
Bentley Riggins and Abby Wehr each had a shot from the field to pad out the Knights’ final tally.
Robbinsville’s stint in the divisional tournament might have ended a little sooner than fans and players alike hoped for, but there is still basketball to be played.
The postseason begins Tuesday; the Lady Knights conceivably are in line for a home game.
“We hope to see everyone there,” Ford concluded.
Playoff seeding occurs Saturday. Visit The Graham Star’s Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) accounts for real-time updates on Robbinsville’s postseason fate.
Tourney opener
In an inverse performance, the Knights overcame a cold start to win Friday’s quarterfinal pairing against Murphy, 67-52.
The Lady Bulldogs started the game on a 22-6 run, with Cayla Geer draining a pair of 3’s and Saige Kent pushing seven points through the net.
“We came out like snails,” Ford assessed. “They were hot and we didn’t defend well; we didn’t even get our hands up on shots.”
Carpenter provided the sole offense that kept Robbinsville on life support in the segment, before the Lady Knights got into a long-range groove in the second with three buckets from beyond the arc, courtesy of Watty and Wehr. Wachacha also became more aggressive at cleaning the glass and posted a perfect 4-for-4 mark from the charity stripe in the fallout.
The end result was a 26-11 quarter to significantly trim the deficit (the Bulldogs led 33-32 at halftime), before Robbinsville blew by Murphy (No. 6, 2-22) with an 18-10 third to put the game out of reach.
“It took us getting down 22-6 to get a little embarrassed, so we clawed back real quick and in the second half, we separated the way we should have,” Ford added. “We can play when we come out to play and keep our minds focused.”
Carpenter dropped 21 (including a 9-of-11 mark from the foul line) to lead the Knights’ offense. Wachacha and Wehr each recorded 12, while Watty netted 11.
Barlow’s 7 and a pair of baskets from Brooms and Riggins closed out the scoreline.
Junior varsity
The next crop of hardwood superstars also reached the tournament semifinals, but the JV Lady Knights were unable to surpass the top seed.
Robbinsville (No. 3, 9-5) easily disposed of Swain County (No. 6) in the tournament’s official tip-off Feb. 15, 37-14, but could not topple Murphy (No. 1) in Monday’s semifinal contest, suffering a 45-27 loss to be eliminated from the showcase.
Novie Dutcher accounted for slightly over 50 percent of the Lady Knights’ total production against the Devils, with her final stat line reading as 19 points, 13 steals and four rebounds.
Maleah Cox finished with nine points, five rebounds and four steals, while MyKayla McGuire turned in six points, five rebounds, three steals and an assist.
Other Robbinsville shooters to help fill out the effort were Ella McGuire 2 and Katie-Lyn Gross 1.
Cox emerged with the team lead in Monday’s loss, recording 14 points and six rebounds. Dutcher had four points, two rebounds and one steal, while Gross added three points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Chasity Jones, Ella McGuire and MyKayla McGuire each scored two points to reach the final tally.