It was a tale of halves in Roan Mountain on Friday night.
Cloudland picked up a varsity sweep over Unaka inside Sonny Smith Gymnasium after each game featured two distinctively different halves. The Lady ‘Landers jumped out early and then melon on for a 42-50 victory over the Lady Rangers, while the Cloudland boys pulled away in the second half with a 95-69 victory.
In the girls game, it was all Cloudland early.
The Lady ‘Landers pitched a shutout in the first half with a 16-0 frame. Unaka got on the board two minutes into the second quarter, but Cloudland extended their lead to 25 points. CHS held a 32-9 lead at the half.
The second half saw the Lady Rangers come out of the gate quickly. Unaka outscored CHS 13-4 in the third quarter to close the gap to 12, and then trimmed to eight points in the early minutes of the fourth. However, Cloudland was able to hold on for the win.
Johanna Johnson led the way with 15 points, while Stacia Wilson and Donrae Taylor had nine points apiece for Cloudland.
Lexi Garland had 10 points to pace the Lady Rangers.
In the boys’ game, the first two quarters were like a prized heavyweight fight.
Unaka jumped out early as they took an 18-10 advantage into the second quarter. The teams continued to trade runs before Cloudland started to pull away. The ‘Landers held a 41-34 advantage at the half.
The Rangers continued to stay within striking distance to open the third quarter – closing within three points midway through the stanza. However, a 9-0 run gave the ‘Landers some breathing room and they took advantage extending the margin from there.
Preston Benfield led Cloudland with 25 points, while Robert Leeper and Josh Blair had 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Kyler Lewis and John Ramsey had 18 points apiece to lead Unaka.
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