Robbinsville unable to solve Cherokee equation
Cherokee – The only Smoky Mountain Conference team that has had the Lady Knights’ number this year is the Cherokee Braves.
Robbinsville (10-7, 4-2) entered Tuesday’s rematch with the first-place Braves, full of optimism that the Knights had the right game plan in place after the first outing Dec. 13 resulted in Cherokee (16-3, 6-0) picking up a 78-59 win.
Sadly, the second dance between the teams played out much like the first: the Braves slowly wore down Robbinsville with aggressive inside work, pinpoint shooting and forcing the Lady Knights to cough the ball up numerous times in a 77-50 Cherokee victory.
Robbinsville led 5-4 midway through the opening segment, but Cherokee’s Whitney Rogers was inspired to drop nine points in the quarter and later finished with a Braves-leading 20 on the night. Cherokee pulled ahead 17-12 and later opened a 35-27 nod at halftime, before continually building its way to the triumph throughout the second half.
Trammell goes off
Bryson City – Desta Trammell previously set her career-high at Swain County, a 36-point evening.
The senior point guard must thrive within the rabid confines of the Devils’ facilities, as she hit six 3’s in a 78-67 Robbinsville win over Swain on Jan. 19.
The game was tightly-knit throughout the first half, with the Lady Knights leading 32-30 at the break. Truthfully, the fourth quarter was the only real separation between the teams, with Liz Carpenter, Katie-Lyn Gross, Kensley Phillips and Aubrie Wachacha all scoring from the field to help keep Trammell’s monster night from being in vain.
Red sweep series
Robbinsville – For just the third time in 2023, the Lady Knights played a home game.
Jan. 18’s clash with the Cocke County (Tenn.) Fighting Red went right down to the wire, but the necessity to foul to stay alive proved to be Robbinsville’s undoing in a 59-53 loss to the 3A program. Channeling the inside aggressiveness of Carpenter (who had a team-high eight pulldowns in the game) and Wachacha (six total blocks, five in the first half), Robbinsville duked it out with Cocke County (12-8) from the opening whistle.
Down by 10 in the third, the Knights promptly went on a 9-1 sprint on the strength of a quick 5-point burst from Trammell, padded by Carpenter’s rebounding and great looks for assists from Phillips. But the Lady Red managed to maintain the pace and down the stretch, Trammell was unable to connect on a pair of 2- and 3-pointers that would have either trimmed the deficit to one, or tied the affair.
Junior varsity
Robbinsville (3-6) dropped its first junior-varsity game in nine days Jan. 18, falling to Cocke County 43-26.
Both Katie-Lyn Gross and Abby Wehr handled leading-scorer duties for the Knights, recording eight each. Adding to the final tally were Helen Ward and Anna Williams, 3 apiece; and Olivia Lewis and Kiara Swartz each hitting third-quarter baskets.
Robbinsville found its way back into the win column with a 33-24 win over Swain County. Anna York’s second-half post work resulted in a team-high 10 points. Also scoring for the Lady Knights were Wehr, 7; Williams, 6; Swartz, 4; Ward, 3; Lewis, 2; and Gross, 1.
The Knights were unable to keep pace with a hot Cherokee offense Tuesday, falling 55-11 to the Braves.
Williams had a team-best six for Robbinsville, while Wehr recorded three and Ward posted two.