Lady Knights face Villains in first regional-finals appearance

Morganton — The deepest playoff run in Lady Knights basketball history was halted in the state semifinals on Saturday. 

Though Robbinsville (21-9) held the defending 1A state champions Bishop McGuinness (27-4) to its third-lowest, single-game output of the season, the Knights never overcame a lethargic first quarter, dropping the 1A Western Regional title game to the Lady Villains, 41-30. 

Senior point guard Desta Trammell’s sprint toward Robbinsville’s all-time scoring record ended at 1,950 points (the leader is April Holder, who scored 2,005 between 1986-89). 

Trammell led the Knights on Saturday with 16, while adding three assists, three steals and one rebound. She also set the state record for consecutive free throws made, connecting for 63 between her junior and senior seasons, and was named the Smoky Mountain Conference’s Player of the Year for 2020-21, a season in which Robbinsville won the divisional title. 

Sophomore small forward Liz Carpenter ran into foul trouble in the first half — which led to her early fourth-quarter exit from the affair — but her second-quarter work inside reinvigorated Robbinsville’s offense, which had fell behind 21-9 at the end of the first stanza. She ended the game with eight points and two rebounds.

Junior center Aubrie Wachacha also needed a quarter to get going, but finished with four points, 11 rebounds, one assist and one steal. 

Senior Fala Welch scored what proved to be Robbinsville’s final basket of the year with under a minute left to play. Fellow classmate Kensley Phillips posted another solid performance of four rebounds, two assists and one steal. 

Though Bishop McGuinness did over half its damage in the opening segment, the Lady Knights outpaced the Villains 8-2 before halftime and only trailed 23-17 at the pause, but could not pull any closer thereafter. 

Robbinsville did a fine job after the first quarter of limiting perennial Bishop scoring threats Adelaide Jernigan (sophomore, 12 points) and Tate Chappell (senior, 11) — both of whom nailed two from outside early in the game — but struggled to shut down junior power forward Kiersten Varner, who shot her way to a team-high 16 points in the regional final. She had back-to-back baskets to begin the third quarter to push Bishop ahead by 10. 

The Lady Knights finished second in the conference this season, going 8-2 in the division and finishing as runners-up in the conference tournament to Cherokee (26-4). The Lady Braves were put out by Bishop McGuinness in the fourth round, 56-42. 

The Lady Villains are set to defend their 1A state championship Saturday, March 11, as they will face the 1A Eastern Regional champions, Chatham Charter (26-5). The Knights upended previously-undefeated Falls Lake Academy (31-1) in the Eastern finals Saturday, 56-51. 

The N.C. High School Athletic Association’s 1A Western Regional finals were held this year at Freedom High School.

Look for a more detailed recap of Robbinsville’s season in the March 9 edition of The Graham Star.