It was a game of runs in Roan Mountain on Monday night, and Cloudland held the best for last.
The Lady ‘Landers overpowered Johnson County early and then held on to take a 52-32 nonconference victory inside Sonny Smith Gymnasium
In the first quarter, it was all Cloudland as Shian Strickland scored five points to help power the Lady ‘Landers to an early 14-4 lead as they held the Lady Longhorns without a field goal for just over the first five minutes.
Faith Russell and Strickland added two points a piece to help Cloudland take a 14-6 lead at the break.
The second quarter belonged to Cloudland’s Peyton Johnson as she scored eight of Cloudland’s 11 points in the frame. The Lady Longhorns trimmed the CHS lead to four points, but Johnson answered with a quick 4-0 run of her own to spark a 9-2 Cloudland run to end the quarter.
Strickland and Johnson paced both teams with 10 points a piece at the break.
The opening minutes of the third quarter saw the Lady ‘Landers extend their lead to 20 points with a quick 9-0 run. Johnson County, however, wasn’t finished as they outscored Cloudland 13-4 the rest of the way as Cloudland maintained a 40-27 lead entering the final stanza.
After the Longhorns used five straight points to open the the fourth quarter, Cloudland used a basket by DonRae Taylor to stop a nearly seven-minute scoring drought. That set the stage for a 12-0 run as the Lady ‘Landers wrapped up the win.
Johnson led the way with 16 points, while Kendall Mull finished with 14 points. Strickland ended the night with 12 points.
