It was a split night in a county rivalry.
Cloudland captured a 45-32 win over Unaka in the girls’ contest while the Rangers used a 41-8 run over the first half to storm to a 60-27 victory over the ‘Landers in Roan Mountain Tuesday night.
In the girls’ game, points were hard to come by in the opening minutes.
Abriella Jones opened the scoring with back-to-back shots to give CHS a 4-0 lead just over three minutes into the game.
Unaka, who was without leading scorer Michelle Shields, saw Kalli Shepard and Katlyn Dugger hit-back-to-back 3-pointers to take the lead before Makinna Shell evened things up with a basket for Cloudland.
Emma Douglas hit a shot on at the buzzer to lift Unaka to an 8-6 lead after a quarter of play.
The Lady ‘Landers jumped out with 3-pointers from Makenzie Street and Shell, but Ari Sutherland converted a four-point play to even things back up.
The teams traded shots before Regan Blair and Shell started an 8-2 run that was capped by an Eowyn McCoury 3-pointer to end the half. That gave Cloudland a 24-19 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, Unaka quickly closed the gap to two points, but the Lady ‘Landers used an 11-3 run to seize control. CHS led 35-26 at the end of three complete.
Unaka opened the fourth with a Keyona Hague jumper, but Shell scored seven straight, and McCoury added a trey as CHS pushed the lead out to 15.
Unaka kept battling but was unable to make a run in the closing minutes.
Shell led Cloudland with a game-high 21 points. Blair and McCoury scored six points apiece. Street and Jones ended the game with five points apiece.
Shepard scored 12 points to lead Unaka. Brooklyn Campbell scored seven points, while Duggar and Sutherland scored four points apiece.
In the boys’ game, Cloudland saw Uriah Jarrett and Nick Caraway score early points as CHS took a 5-3 lead in the opening minutes. Austin Lambert hit a bucket, and Mason Wilson and Rylan Crabtree hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 22-5 run to end the quarter to give the Rangers a 25-10 lead after a quarter of play.
Unaka continued to hold the momentum in the second quarter as Peyton Guess and John Hardin hit shots that started an 11-0 run to start the quarter. In all, the Rangers went on a 19-1 run to open the quarter before Cass Turbyfill ended the half with a bucket for CHS.
Unaka led 44-13.
The second half saw Unaka continue to hold Cloudland at bay to secure the win.
Wilson led Unaka with 17 points, while TJ Good scored 13 points. Hardin added 10 points. Guess and Crabtree scored six points apiece.
Caraway scored 11 points to pace Cloudland. Jarrett scored 10 points.
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