Elizabethton came up short at the buzzer Friday night.
The Lady Cyclones saw Sullivan Central hit a buzzer-beater to take a 44-42 decision in Elizabethton in the District 1-AA Tournament Semifinals.
EHS falls into Monday’s Consolation Game where they will host Unicoi County.
In the early going, points were hard to come by.
After Central took a 4-0 lead over the first three minutes, Elizabethton’s Renna Lane put the Lady Cyclones on the board with just under three minutes left in the quarter. Central added a late bucket to take a 6-2 lead into the second quarter.
The Lady Cyclones set the tone to open the second.
A Morgan Headrick free throw opened the scoring and Lina Lyon knocked down a 3-pointer to even the game up at 6-6. Those points kick-started a 12-0 run to open the quarter that saw Elizabethton take a 14-6 lead.
Central, however, answered with a run of their own as they reeled off the nine of the next 11 points scored to pull back within one point.
A Lyon bucket in the final seconds gave Elizabethton an 18-15 lead into the half.
The teams traded points to open the third quarter as neither team was able to get a separation. Headrick scored four points in a 7-0 run that included a 3-pointer from Olivia Holly. That pushed the EHS lead to 31-27 after three complete quarters.
In the final quarter, Central slowly made their move.
After EHS held a 36-30 lead, Bre Yarber scored eight straight points for the Lady Cougars to give SC the lead.
Lyon knocked down a trey to put EHS back on top and added a jumper to even the score at 42-42 with a minute to play.
After a five-second call in the closing seconds gave Central the ball, Yarber scored as time expired to send Sullivan Central to the win.
Lyon had 15 points to lead Elizabethton. Headrick added 13 points, while Lane and Holly had six points apiece.
Yarber led Sullivan Central with 19 points.
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