ERWIN— If there was one difference that led to victory for the Cloudland Lady Highlanders on the road at Unicoi County on Monday evening, it came down to two simple words—hard work.

Crashing the boards for numerous attempts after missed shots, the Lady Highlanders did what it took to earn a hard-fought 41-36 win inside the Devil’s Den.

“That was one of the main parts of the game after the first half was us getting those rebounds and keeping them from getting many on their end,” said Lady ‘Lander head coach Lucas Andrews after the contest.

Cloudland (4-3, 0-0) clung tightly to a slim two-point advantage at the end of the first half as seven Lady ‘Landers cashed in on the scoring end to give the ‘Lady Landers the 18-16 lead.

Trinity Vines five points showed the way in the half with Megan Lunsford nailing a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter.

A field goal apiece was added by Stacia Wilson Don Rae Taylor, Johanna Johnson Abbey Gouge, and Lisa Ellis.

Neelee Griffith kept her Lady Blue Devils close by hitting for seven in the first 16 minutes. Chloe Powers chipped in with four points.

A sleeping giant awoke in the third period for Cloudland as Shian Strickland who was held scoreless in the first half broke out for nine points in the stanza to give her team a 31-26 edge heading into the final quarter.

Strickland was a key cog, and Andrews knew that the guard would come alive offensively.

“Every team that we play knows she is the leader and is going to get most of the points,” said Andrews. “They did a good job on her in the first half, so we ran some things to get her some shots to open things up for everyone else.”

The period turned out to be the difference as both teams played even basketball in the final eight minutes of the contest scoring 10 points each.

For the contest, Strickland finished with 13 points to lead her team with Vines close behind with nine points.

Lisa Ellis contributed with six points with Wilson adding four points.

Neelee Griffith finished as game-high scorer hitting for 17 in the contest. Powers and Kaylee Hendrickson finished with seven and six points respectively.

Cloudland travels to Happy Valley tonight for a 6:30 pm contest against Coach Larry Abel’s Lady Warriors.

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Girls

Cloudland, 41-36

Cloudland(41)

Stacia Wilson 4, Don Rae Taylor 2, Shian Strickland 13, Abbey Gouge 2, Johanna Johnson 2, Lisa Ellis 6, Megan Lunsford 3, Trinity Vines 9.

Unicoi Co. (36)

Neelee Griffith 17, Kaylee Hendrickson 6, Chloe Powers 7, Halie Padgett 3, Kenedy King 3.

Cloudland……12   6   13   10—41

Unicoi Co…..…7   9   10   10—36

3-PT Goals: Cloudland 3 (Shian Strickland, Megan Lunsford, Lisa Ellis). Unicoi Co. 1 (Chloe Powers).