Newport, Tenn. – Coming off head coach Lucas Ford’s 100th win Jan. 3, the Lady Knights embarked on a pair of long road trips for non-conference action.
Robbinsville (9-4) admittedly had a tough draw, facing a pair of 3A powerhouses in Cocke County, Tenn., on Friday and Pisgah on Monday.
The end result were a pair of losses: a 63-48 defeat in Tennessee and a 74-33 undoing at the hands of the Lady Bears. The Lady Knights are 3-3 against larger classifications this season.
Both games followed the same theme: competitive early, but Robbinsville simply could not contain the size and athleticism of players at either institution.
In the case of the Cocke County (11-7) pairing, former Cherokee Lady Braves coach Chris Mintz witnessed his 6-foot, senior power-forward Paige Niethammer unleash a 30-point evening on the Lady Knights. Robbinsville limited her attack to just three points in the first, but as the game unfolded, the Lady Red were able to expand their offense with a 17-point second half from freshman guard Blake Clevenger.
The Knights simply could not keep pace and watched a 16-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter dissipate, with Niethammer connecting on a 3 at the 20-second mark of the third. Cocke County then flipped its flurry onto cruise control, running away with the win on the strength of a 25-10 final segment.
“I like what I saw out of the girls for the first three quarters tonight,” Ford said after the game. “I wish we could have finished it, but we just didn’t have the depth and ran out of gas at the end.”
Both Kensley Phillips and Desta Trammell finished with a team-high 14 points on the evening. Aubrie Wachacha had 13, while Suri Watty posted five. A second-quarter basket from Abby Wehr rounded out the scoreline.
Robbinsville will get an opportunity to right the wrong Wednesday, when Cocke County returns the favor and travels to Graham County for a 4-game tilt.
When Bears attack
Canton – In the shadow of the famed Champion Pulp and Paper Mill, Robbinsville soon found itself falling susceptible to another pair of accurate shooters.
From the opening tip, junior guard Dorothy Mills (23 points) and senior forward Chloe Burch (22) imposed their will on the Knights’ defense, seemingly hitting everything they put up.
The current divisional leaders of the Mountain Six Conference, Pisgah (11-4) reaped the benefits by holding a 24-15 lead at the end of the first, before holding Robbinsville to just eight more points before the break and going on an 11-0 run to begin the second half. The Lady Knights were bitten by the turnover bug in the outing and could not get into a tempo on offense as a result.
Trammell led Robbinsville with 10 points. Wachacha scored eight, while both Liz Carpenter and Philips secured five each. A first-quarter trey from Watty and another second-quarter Wehr bucket completed the scoring effort.
Here, kitty kitty
Robbinsville – Prior to Tuesday, the Lady Knights had not played a home game since Dec. 16.
And hot off the heels of a pair of humbling defeats, Robbinsville made a brief return home with a laser focus.
Simply put, the Blue Ridge Lady Bobcats (4-7) were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In the first of three consecutive games against Little Smoky Mountain Conference schools, Robbinsville poured 58 points on the visitors, rolling to a 58-34 win.
Shouldering a 34-point load was Trammell, who surpassed the 1,500-point mark for her varsity career in the process. At press time, she held steady at 1,512.
Others to post for the Knights were Carpenter, 10; Wehr, 6; Wachacha, 4; and Katie Lyn-Gross and Watty, 2 each.
Junior varsity
Robbinsville (2-4) also continued its build toward the future, by competing in two junior-varsity games at Cocke County and Pisgah.
The Lady Knights were defeated 57-18 in Newport, before falling 50-11 to the Lady Bears.
Wehr posted a team-best 11 points at Cocke County. Helen Ward connected on three foul shots, with Katie-Lyn Gross, Kiara Swartz and Anna York each dropping two.
In the loss at Pisgah, Swartz had a 5-point game.
Maleah Cox, Wehr and Anna Williams each had a basket, as well.