The Lady Cyclones are back in familiar territory.
Elizabethton secured a spot in the Region 1-AA final as well as a substate berth with a 60-34 victory over Happy Valley on Monday night at Grainger County High School.
EHS will take on Grainger on Wednesday at 7 p.m., with the Region 1-AA title on the line as well as a home sectional game. Happy Valley sees its’ season come to an end with the loss.
Kalee Johnson bookmarked three Emily Schubert points to give Happy Valley an early 4-3 lead. However, Kayla Marosites and Kelci Marosites kicked off a 15-0 Elizabethton run that was capped off by a Ke. Marosites basket. Bayley McGee ended the quarter with a pair of free throws as EHS held an 18-6 lead.
After Charli Bare added two points to open the second quarter for HV, Emily Kiser drained a pair of free throws to counter for the Lady Cyclones. That started an 11-0 run that included points from three EHS players.
Kaitlyn Roberts stopped the run with a HV basket, but Ke. Marosites and Kiser answered for the Lady Cyclones. Roberts ended the quarter with a 5-2 run of her own, but EHS maintained a 39-12 lead heading to the half.
In the third quarter, Bare and Roberts along with Johnson recorded points for the Lady Warriors. However, Melenda Perry, Kiser and Haley Burleson answered to stop the run for Elizabethton. The teams traded points to end the quarter as the Lady Cyclones held a 48-28 lead at the break.
Ka. Marosites and Perry helped keep the momentum on the EHS side during the fourth quarter. Emily Whitaker and Johnson capped the scoring for the Lady Warriors in the quarter.
Ka. Marosites tallied 19 points in the game, while Ke. Marosites had 13 points. Kiser and Schubert added nine points each. Burleson recorded six points.
Johnson wrapped up her storied high school career with 11 points – including her 2,000th career point during the game. Roberts and Bare recorded nine and six points, respectively.
