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BY CY PETERS
It looked like it was going to be a good old-fashioned Johnson County
barnburner in Mountain City on Monday night, but the second quarter
ended the Ranger’s hope for a road win.

Both teams came out running and exchanging baskets, with Unaka coming
out on top in the first, 16-13.

They say foul shots will win you games.

Coach Austin Atwoods team proved this by hitting six of seven in the first
and 15 of 16 by the half to build a 39-26 lead at the break.

Unaka hit seven for 11 and 11 of 19 in the game from the charity stripe.

The inside game was just too much for Unaka.

The Longhorns controlled the boards, scoring on put-backs while allowing
the Rangers only one shot.

In the third, a full-court press forced a few turnovers but a Longhorn time-out
for Atwood settled his team down and helped to regain their composure.

“Anytime you play an Aaron Dugger team, you know your gonna have to
strap it on and play really hard. We ended up with 34 rebounds, which I
thought was a turning point in the game. Unaka is going to be really
good in their league,” said Coach Atwood.

Some of the Ranger key players got into foul trouble in the third and missed
most of the quarter, allowing the Longhorns to build a 23-point lead.

Joseph Slagle led Unaka with 21, twelve coming from the outside.

Jackson Earnhardt of Mountain City led all scorers with 27 points, Zach Parsons
followed with 12.

Joe-z Blamo also scored 12 for Unaka.

Johnson County won the B-game 71-47. Dalton Robinson led the Longhorns
with 21, Austin West scored 12, and Conner Simcox tossed in 11.

Tyler Dugger and Jonathan Campbell scored ten points each for Unaka.
—
Johnson County 13 26 18 11 -68
Unaka 16 10 11 14 -45
Unaka: Sexton 7, Slagle 21, Blamo, 12, Seigfried 4, Lewis 2, Ramsey 1,
Heath 4.
Johnson County: Bower 5, Roberson 2, Earnhardt 27, Greer 3, Cross 10,
Parsons 12, Gentry 7, Simcox 2.