A fast-and-furious rally came up short for the Lady Cyclones.
Elizabethton was unable to complete a rally as they dropped a 44-40 decision to Gatlinburg-Pittman in the Class AA substate on Saturday night inside Treadway Gymnasium.
The Lady Cyclones finished the year with an impressive 23-11 record.
It was a battle from the opening tip on Saturday night.
Neither team was able to get on the board until the five minute mark of the first quarter as GP jumped out to a 6-2 lead. Morgan Headrick and Kaitlin Bailey added two points apiece in the closing minutes of the first quarter for the Lady Cyclones, but the Highlanders maintained a 13-6 lead at the end of the frame.
Bailey and Headrick sparked a EHS run as the Lady Cyclones quickly closed within three points, but GP used a 6-2 run to push the lead back out. The teams traded shots for the rest of the quarter as Elizabethton trailed 23-17 at the half.
In the third quarter, Lina Lyon scored three points in the opening minutes and Kaylen Shell added a bucket as EHS stayed within striking distance. Gatlinburg Pittman, however, used a strong run to end the quarter to take a 37-27 lead into the final eight minutes.
Elizabethton, however, wasn’t going down without a fight.
Shell and Bailey worked quickly as the scored the first four points of the fourth quarter and Torrie Roberts drained a key 3-pointer as part of a 10-2 run that pulled EHS within two points. After the Highlanders pushed the lead to five points from the free throw line, Shell converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to push EHS within two with just over eight seconds remaining.
GP missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 and set EHS up with the ball with five seconds remaining, but the Lady Cyclones were unable to even the score in the final seconds.
Bailey finished with 16 points, while Shell had 11 points for the Lady Cyclones. Headrick scored six points. Lyon and Roberts had four and three points, respectively.
Gatlinburg-Pittman was led by Ivy Bales’ 15 points, while Taylor Reed scored 10 points.
For more photos click here.
