If the Cloudland-Unaka semifinal was like the first two meetings, it was destined to be a classic. Friday afternoon’s contest lived up to the hype.
The No. 4 Lady ‘Landers had to rally to take a 34-31 victory over No. 5 Unaka in the District 1-A quarterfinals at Daniel Boone. Cloudland advances to play No. 1 South Greene on Saturday in addition to claiming a Region 1-A tournament berth.
Cloudland’s Erin Julian opened the scoring with a trey, but Hannah Tipton answered for the Lady Rangers. Unaka pulled out to a 14-3 lead with baskets from Lexi Garland and Tipton over the next seven minutes before Shian Strickland capitalized on a trey and one. Unaka maintained a 14-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Katlyn Burrow knocked down two free throws to open the second quarter, but Cloudland answered with a Strickland 3-point play and a Payton Johnson jumper. The teams traded foul shots to end the quarter as the Lady Rangers maintained an 18-14 advantage at the half.
Katlyn Weaver hit the third quarter’s first basket with a 3-pointer, but Trinity Vines started a 7-0 Cloudland run that was capped by a Lisa Ellis basket from behind the arc. After Tipton pushed Unaka back in front with back-to-back baskets, Johnson pulled Cloudland within one point to start the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Ellis knocked down a trey to put CHS into the lead and sparked a 7-0 run over the first six minutes. Unaka saw late points from Garland, Weaver and Tipton pull them within one, but Cloudland held on in the frantic final seconds for win.
Johnson led Cloudland with 12 points, while Strickland and Ellis had nine and six points, respectively.
Tipton had a game-high 18 points for the Lady Rangers, while Weaver added five points.
Postgame Audio and Photo Gallery below.
Postgame Audio
Cloudland Head Coach Lucas Andrews
Unaka Head Coach Kenneth Chambers
Photo Gallery
To view more photos, click here.
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