It was a battle in Roan Mountain on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rangers held off a furious Cloudland rally to take a 58-48 win inside Sonny Smith Gymnasium. In the boys’ game, Unaka captured a 77-41 win over the ‘Landers.
The girls’ game started as a back-and-forth battle.
Makinna Shell opened the scoring for Cloudland with two baskets while Brooklyn Campbell and Michelle Shields answered for the Lady Rangers. The teams continued to trade shots as Unaka took a 13-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Lady Rangers used a 13-0 run to start the second, sparked by an Emma Whitaker 3-pointer. Cloudland stopped the run with a 3-pointer by Jayla Harper, but Unaka ended the half on a 6-2 run to take a 34-16 lead.
In the third quarter, Unaka pushed the lead to 41-20 before Cloudland’s Jadyn Whitley hit back-to-back shots, and the Lady ‘Landers trimmed the lead to 46-30 after a Savannah McCoury 3-point play to end the third quarter.
After Whitaker hit a bucket for Unaka, Cloudland continued to rally back with a 13-3 run capped by an old-fashioned 3-point play by Abriella Jones. Keyona Hague stopped the run for Unaka with a bucket, but Shell scored a jumper and a free throw to pull CHS back within 53-46 with just under two minutes to play.
Unaka, however, was able to secure the game with free throws from Campbell and Shields.
Shields led Unaka with 20 points, while Campbell had 13 points. Whitaker scored nine points, while Arianna Sutherland scored eight points.
Shell paced Cloudland with 18 points. Jones scored 14 points.
In the boys’ game, the Rangers pulled away to take the win.
In the first quarter, Unaka used a pair of runs to take a 27-14 lead into the second quarter. Cloudland battled back with a 7-2 run to open the second, but the Rangers were able to pull out to a 53-30 lead at the half.
Unaka continued to hold the momentum in the second half.
John Hardin led Unaka with 34 points. Aiden Walsh added 12 points, while Justius Wallin and Brayden Stines added six and five points, respectively.
Uriah Jarrett led Cloudland with nine points, and Bryce Birchfield added eight points. John Wilson scored seven points. Bo Wilson scored six points.
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