Cloudland sweeps Blue Devils out of Roan Mountain
Published 5:26 pm Wednesday, January 16, 2019
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Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Cloudland's Mindy Benfield goes up for a jumper.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Lady Highlanders Trinity Vines puts up a close-range shot.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Cloudland's Jasmine Birchfield looks for an open teammate.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Cloudland's Conor Birchfield cuts into open court.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Cloudland's Dillion Johnson puts up a layup.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Cloudland's Josh Blair fights to get off a shot.
In some nonconference, the Cloudland basketball squads picked up some victories in Roan Mountain Tuesday evening.
The Lady Highlanders topped Unicoi County, 64-49, while the Highlanders held off the Blue Devils, 63-59.
The Lady ‘Landers Trinity Vines led the way with a 27-point performance while Cloudland moved to 15-4 on the season.
“I think we played well, but I don’t think we played what I would call smooth,” said Lady Highlanders head coach Mike Lunsford about Tuesday night’s win. “Things just didn’t flow so well, and we played a good basketball team, so I am sure that is why things didn’t flow so well.”
The Lady Blue Devils came out strong taking a 16-11 lead after the first quarter of play. The Lady Highlanders, however, picked up the momentum in the second quarter as they outscored Unicoi 16-13 before the Blue Devils took a small 29-27 lead into the half. Cloudland’s Kenzie Birchfield and Gracie Freeman each had a 3-pointer in the second to help the Lady Highlanders’ cause while Vines posted four in the quarter.
The Lady Highlanders locked things down defensively in the third quarter as they held Unicoi to just two points in the period while posting 11 points. Vines paced Cloudland with nine points in the quarter while Cloudland’s Mindy Benfield had a close-range jumper to round things out. The Lady Highlanders led 38-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Cloudland had its most productive quarter in the fourth as the Lady Highlanders posted 25 points to Unicoi’s 17. Vines posted 13 points in the quarter with Freeman following up with a 3-pointer and two foul shots for five points in the frame.
Freeman finished the night with nine, while Stacia Wilson, Benfield and Megan Lunsford finished with seven points each. Kenzie Birchfield and Jasmine Birchfield both contributed with four and two points, respectively.
(Boys)
Cloudland 63, Unicoi 59
The Highlanders held on during a 28-point, fourth quarter from Unicoi during Tuesday night’s win which was Cloudland’s second straight victory.
Cloudland was paced by an 18-point game from Hunter Shell who hit four 3-pointers Tuesday night. Cloudland’s Robert Leeper followed up with 14 points, ten of which came in the fourth quarter to help the Highlander stay in front of the Blue Devils.
After one, Cloudland trailed 13-11 before taking a 23-21 lead into the half as Shell knocked down two of his 3-pointers in the second quarter.
After three, Cloudland held on to a 38-31 lead into the fourth.
