Cyclones bested by Liberty Bell in middle school matchup
Published 12:31 am Wednesday, November 20, 2019
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Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
T A Dugger’s Luke Whaley (20) goes baseline and hits a runner over Liberty Bells’ Daniel Nerren (41) in the second quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
The Jr. Cyclones Will Churchill (5) lets a buzzer beater fly with to second left in the second quarter over Liberty Bells’ Daniel Nerren (41) only to see it roll off the rim at the horn.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
T A Dugger’s Jeriah Griffin (21) lifts a runner over the Patriots Brady Lawson (10) after a steal at center court.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
Jr. Cyclone Will Churchill goes up for a reverse layup during Monday's game with Liberty Bell.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
The Jr. Cyclones Andrew Barnett (3) is fouled by Liberty Bell’s Oliver Peterson (14) while driving the lane for a layup after stealing the ball near mid-court.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
The Jr. Cyclones Colton Killian (45) is fouled by Liberty Bell’s Oliver Peterson (14) as he puts back up a rebound of his own shot in the lane.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
The Jr. Cyclones Mason Bowling (20) hits a runner from just outside the lane to finish a fastbreak off a steal at half court.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
The Jr. Cyclones Jackson Buckles (33) splits two Liberty Bell defenders on his way to a layup.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
The Jr. Cyclones Andrew Barnett (3) rips a three pointer from the corner off a quick inbound pass in the third quarter.
BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
JOHNSON CITY – After making the trip once this year for football, the T.A. Dugger Cyclones traveled once again to Johnson City to take on the Liberty Bell Patriots, this time in a round ball contest.
In a rivalry matchup between two teams that are separated by a fifteen-minute drive, the JV squads were the ones to start things off.
At the beginning of the contest mental mistakes were getting the best of the Cyclones as turnovers on offense translated to points for the Patriots giving them an early 9-0 lead.
And just when it seemed that the game would get out of hand, the Cyclones’ offense began to spark which brought the deficit within four to close out the first quarter.
The second quarter of the junior varsity matchup seemed like the first but only reversed. The Cyclones kept their momentum for a while, bringing the deficit to one point.
But when things cooled off the Liberty Bell offense was able to take advantage and widen the gap ever so slightly to head into the break with a 22-18 advantage.
The Patriots came out of the break on fire going on a 7-0 run to start the third period. And it didn’t stop there as they would tack on four more to take a thirteen point lead heading into the final quarter, 33-20.
The Cyclones were able to regain focus entering the final minutes, cutting the lead to seven. But it was too little, too late as the junior varsity team would fall to Liberty Bell by a score of 44-33
Although T.A. Dugger would lose the first, the varsity would play looking to settle the score in the second game shortly after.
The first quarter of the varsity affair was a back and forth contest, with each team matching the other’s score almost every time.
But when the buzzer sounded marking the end of the first period, it was the Patriots who took a slight advantage 16-9.
The second quarter, however, was a totally different story. Liberty Bell jumped out to a large lead and didn’t look back as they took a 35-13 edge over the Cyclones into halftime.
The halftime break didn’t slow down the home team as the Patriots would continue to tack on the points making the score heading into the final quarter a lopsided one, 53-20.
There was not much that the Cyclones do with the hole that they were in.
Although their comeback effort was valiant there was not enough time to come out on top as the final score read 69-31 in favor of the Liberty Bell Patriots.
