It was a mixed bag of results for Carter County teams in Saturday’s District 1-AA semifinals. The Lady Cyclones rolled to a 79-35 victory over Unicoi County, but the Lady Warriors fell 63-58 to Sullivan South. The Cyclones also came up short of reaching the title game in a heartbreaking 64-58 loss to the Blue Devils.
Unicoi County 64, Elizabethton 58 (Boys)
The Cyclones were unable to outlast an upset-minded Unicoi squad.
Trevor Hensley and the Blue Devils jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first quarter, but Bo Pless and Eric Wilson helped close the gap to 14-11 after a quarter of play. In the second quarter, Hayden Townsend pushed EHS into the lead, but Unicoi battled back to take a 31-29 lead at the break.
Unicoi slowly moved the lead to six points entering the final quarter. Elizabethton pulled within two during the fourth, but was unable to get back in front.
Pless had a team-high 17 points, while Michael Robinson and Townsend had 16 points apiece.
Elizabethton will play Sullivan South in Tuedsay’s consolation game.
Elizabethton 79, Unicoi County 35 (Girls)
The Lady Cyclones took a bit to get going, but they were unstoppable once they got rolling.
Elizabethton slowly pulled out to a 23-14 lead after a quarter of play. Emily Kiser along with the duo of Kelci and Kayla Marosites helped blow open the game with big baskets to open the second quarter. That helped the Lady Cyclones take a 45-26 lead at the half.
From there, Elizabethton continued to slowly pull away to clinch their spot in Monday’s championship game against Sullivan East.
Ka. Marosites tallied 23 points in the game, while Ke. Maronites tossed in 17 points. Kiser finished with 14 points. Melinda Perry scored 10 points in the game.
Sullivan East 63, Happy Valley 58 (Girls)
The Lady Warriors had to fight back, but was unable to hold on late.
Happy Valley came up short in a 63-58 victory to Sullivan East. HV will play in Monday’s consolation game against Unicoi County.
Happy Valley found themselves in a hole early as Sullivan East held an 18-9 lead after a quarter of play. However, Kalee Johnson and freshman Bayley McGee helped the Lady Warriors storm back in the second quarter, and an old fashioned 3-point play from Kaitlyn Roberts gave HV a 31-29 halftime lead.
East edged ahead to open the second half as the Lady Patriots extended the lead to nine points heading to the final quarter. Happy Valley cut the lead to five points on a McGee jumper, and Charli Bare pulled them within four points with a pair of free throws later in the quarter. However, HV was unable to get back in front before time expired.
Johnson led the Lady Warriors with 19 points, and McGee had 16 points. Bare scored eight points for the Lady Warrior cause.
