Lady Knights suffer first loss to Little Smoky school since 2019
Highlands – To begin Monday’s road game, seniors Desta Trammell and Kensley Phillips hit respective 2- and 3-point shots, to give Robbinsville the opening salvo.
From there, Highlands proved to be rude hosts. A combination of hot shooting and a domineering inside-defense caught the Lady Knights off-guard, as the Lady Highlanders seized the advantage in the first quarter and never relinquished the lead thereafter, handing a stunned Robbinsville program a 48-41 loss.
“Highlands is always a tough place to play, especially after not seeing your kids since the middle of last week – due to weather,” Knights head coach Lucas Ford said. “Highlands played well. We had too many turnovers, and we just played like we had not practiced in several days; our legs were dead.”
Robbinsville (9-5) also struggled to secure second- or third-chance shots, with Highlands (9-4) showing a marked improvement all over the floor from when the Knights cruised to a 45-22 home triumph over the Highlanders on Dec. 6.
But even with Highlands putting forth its best effort, Robbinsville still had chances to make things interesting late. Phillips hit a jumper with 6:30 left that cut the deficit to 37-33, which was the slimmest margin since the first quarter. Later in the stanza, freshman Suri Watty released the potential tying shot, while Phillips was unable to connect on a three that would have brought the Lady Knights within one.
And then, there was the late controversy. With 16.3 seconds left, Beatrice Bryson trotted to the charity stripe for Highlands’ first double-bonus attempts of the evening. Bryson missed her first, before Phillips rebounded the ball and heaved it down the floor to a sprinting Trammell, who decisively connected on a trey in the chaos.
Officials pleaded confusion with the scorers’ table, who correctly noted that Bryson was due two free throws. The clock never started back and, instead of a four-point ballgame, Bryson made her second foul shot and extended the Lady Highlanders’ lead to seven – which proved to be the final outcome.
Trammell’s 12-point night pushed her career total to 1,524, with Phillips carving out an 11-point showing. Liz Carpenter posted eight, while Abby Wehr had six.
Watty’s first- and fourth-quarter buckets rounded out the scoreline.
The loss was Robbinsville’s first to a Little Smoky Mountain Conference school since Jan. 8, 2019, when the Knights fell 60-58 at Hiwassee Dam.