Robbinsville – Lucas Ford summed up Tuesday’s dominant showing against Swain County in one sentence: “If we play like that in the conference tournament, we’ll win it.”
It’s a hard point to argue, really.
The Lady Knights blanked Swain County (9-14, 3-7) in the first quarter, building what proved to be an insurmountable disadvantage for the visitors in the regular-season finale, as Robbinsville (16-7, 8-2) dazzled in a 62-39 thrashing of the Lady Devils.
Swain finally cracked the scoreboard on a Marlee Hicks layup with 3:37 left in the first half, but the Knights showed no signs of slowing down. Ball movement and suffocating defense both combined to play a winning force in the senior-night clash, with the future stars strutting their stuff as well: Liz Carpenter (sophomore) paced Robbinsville with 16 points, while Aubrie Wachacha (junior) and Abby Wehr (freshman) each deposited eight points into the basket. A freshman transfer from Swain County, Suri Watty also drained a pair from outside in the first half.
Meanwhile, longtime classmates, friends and teammates Desta Trammell and Kensley Phillips capped off their senior night with respective 13- and 11-point evenings. Trammell now enters the Smoky Mountain Conference tournament with 1,751 in her career.
Late heroics
For the first three quarters of Monday’s tilt against Hiwassee Dam (12-11), it appeared the script would closely follow what occurred at “The Nest” on Jan. 30: a constant Robbinsville lead, with the Lady Eagles simply maintaining a steady pace behind.
The Knights had enough by the dawn of the fourth and promptly shut down Hiwassee Dam’s efforts to the tune of a 29-9 stanza, en route to an 80-50 Robbinsville triumph.
One could even point to the third quarter as the segment where the Lady Knights began building momentum. Phillips had an 11-point stint, including three from beyond the arc.
Jackets brushed aside
The Lady Knights’ defense limited Hayesville (8-15, 4-6) to single digits in each quarter except the fourth, as Wachacha willingly muscled her way around inside the paint en route to a cozy 55-29 win Friday.
For the first time this season, Wachacha led Robbinsville with 17 points in the dominant performance, which included two putbacks, seven rebounds (also a team-high) and a block.
Trammell surpassed the 1,700-point mark for her career on a 3-pointer in the third segment.
Junior varsity
Robbinsville (5-7) clamped down on the throttle early in Friday’s opener against Hayesville, running up a 43-5 advantage by the end of the third and ending the night with a 51-11 swat of the Lady Jackets.
Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Abby Wehr, who racked up 21 points. Maleah Cox had a strong second-half and finished with 12 points, while Anna York tallied seven points in the win. Others contributing to the cause were Katie-Lyn Gross, 4; Kiara Swartz, 3; and both Olivia Lewis and Kiniah Teesateskie, 2 apiece.
A first-quarter lead slipped away from the Knights’ clutches in the regular-season conclusion Tuesday, as Swain County pulled ahead in the second and went on to prevail 42-25.
Both Wehr and York posted a team-best seven points apiece for Robbinsville. Also scoring was Swartz, 4; Cox, Gross and Lewis, 2 each; and Williams, 1.