On Friday night Unaka played host to Cosby in a pair of non conference games and when all was said and done the Eagles had vanquished the home standing Rangers.
On the boys side, Kyal Clevinger’s 21 point effort helped lead the Eagles (16-4) to a 55-39 win while Madison Norris led a balanced scoring attack as the Lady Eagles downed the Lady Rangers 48-31.
Cosby took an early lead scoring the first nine points of the game before Kyler Lewis got Unaka on the scoreboard with a two pointer. The Eagles extended their lead to 24-17 by halftime with Clevinger’s nine points leading the way.
The Rangers (3-15) were forced into 27 turnovers in this one, but kept the game within reach for most of the contest. Jordan Self was the Cosby offense in the third period scoring eight of the 11 points the Eagles mustered.
Unaka trailed 35-28 after three quarters, but Cosby went on an eight point run to open the period and take a 43-28 advantage. A three point play from senior post Travis Overdorf stopped the bleeding for the Rangers momentarily.
A trey from point guard Joe Searfoss cut the Cosby lead to 46-34 with 2:34 remaining, but that was as close as the Rangers would get.
“We are getting better,” stated Rangers head coach Aaron Dugger. “As long as we keep battling and scrapping, I feel that we are on the road to getting better. I can’t fault the effort. We stayed with them for 27 minutes, but it got away from us in the last few minutes.”
Searfoss led the Rangers with 17 points with Lewis adding 11. Self had 11 for the Eagles to back Clevinger’s efforts.
GIRLS
Cosby 48
Unaka 31
A slow start doomed the Lady Rangers as Cosby (11-5) ran off to a 24-12 halftime lead and Unaka could not mount a comeback. Brooke Schreder scored six of her 11 points in the first half while junior point guard Hannah Tipton’s seven points were most of the offense for Unaka.
Sarah Conard scored six points for Cosby in the third period as the Lady Eagles built a 37-22 lead going into the final period.
“We didn’t play with the kind of desire that we needed to,” said Lady Rangers head coach Kenneth Chambers. “We played better in the fourth quarter and I was proud of the effort they gave. We just never could catch up.”
Madison Norris had a game leading 12 points and seven steals for Cosby while Tipton led the way for Unaka with 11 points and six steals. Lexi Garland had six points for Unaka on a pair of long range shots.
