The Unaka boys basketball team came up so short in an upset bid on Wednesday.
The Rangers saw UH rally to take a 50-47 victory inside Brooks Gym in District 1-A play. In the girls’ game, the Lady Rangers pulled away in the second half for a 54-35 win over the Lady Bucs.
In the boys’ game, Unaka set the tone early.
The Rangers raced out to a 16-6 lead in the first quarter. UHS kept the pressure on the Bucs while hitting shots to maintain a 23-16 lead at the break.
The third quarter saw UH close the gap, but a quick 7-0 spurt by the Rangers extended the lead. The Bucs, however, used another run to pull within four at the end of the quarter, and then started the fourth quarter hot to take the lead. Unaka continued to battling as the teams swapped shots, but UH secured the win with free throws down the stretch.
Ryan Johnson finished with 12 points to lead the Rangers. John Ramsey had 11 points, while Isaack Hill and Davey Ensor had seven points each.
For the Lady Rangers, a methodical approach was used for the win.
Unaka took a 12-9 lead as Myah Parlier and Savannah Tipton had six points apiece in the quarter. Tara Whitehead hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second stanza that helped power UHS to a 25-16 advantage at the half.
After UH cut the gap to five points in the third quarter, the Lady Rangers answered the call to take a double-digit lead into the final quarter. From there, Unaka was able to keep UH at bay for the win.
Parlier had a game-high 16 point, while Tipton tallied 10 points in the win. Madison Pierce scored nine points in the win.
