It certainly wasn’t pretty for Cloudland at Providence on Friday night. However, both the boys’ and girls’ teams escaped with narrow victories to make it a successful trip.
The Cloudland girls held on to 36-31 nonconference victory over the Lady Knights, while the ‘Landers pulled out to a 63-55 victory over Providence.
In the varsity opener, the Lady ‘Landers and Knights found points hard to come by as a Kendall Mull 3-pointer was answered by a Lady Knights’ basket to end the first quarter tied at 5-5. In the second period, Cloudland went on an 11-2 run sparked by a Mull 3-pointer and four Peyton Johnson points to give Cloudland a nine-point advantage. However, Providence used a run of their own to cut the gap to 20-17 before Mull knocked down a buzzer beating 3-pointer to give CHS a 23-17 advantage at the half.
Mull and Johnson hit baskets to help Cloudland extend their lead back to nine points as CHS held a 30-23 lead at the end of the third. A 6-2 Providence run pulled the Lady Knights within three points. However Johnson scored four straight points to help Cloudland pull away for the victory.
Johnson led the way with 20 points, while Mull tallied 14 points.
In the nightcap, Cloudland jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before trading baskets with Providence. A pair of free throws from Zac Benfield gave the ‘Landers an 18-16 advantage heading into the second quarter.
After a 3-point play from Benfield to start the second quarter the Knights answered with a 6-0 run. However, Cloudland ended the quarter on a 4-0 run with baskets by Preston Benfield and Colby Birchfield as Cloudland took a 32-27 lead into the half.
The start of the second half saw Cloudland quickly extend their lead to 10 points, but a 11-4 Knights run pulled Providence within three points to start the final quarter. The Knights used a 5-0 run to take a two-point lead. Cloudland, however, answered as Jesse Potter drained a 3-pointer and the ‘Landers outscored Providence 19-9 to end the game.
Z. Benfield led the way with 20 points, while Birchfield finished with 12 points. P. Benfield added 12 points to the Cloudland cause.
Postgame Audio
