ROAN MOUNTAIN—Lady Highlanders’ Lisa Ellis put on a show Monday night as Cloudland used a second-quarter push to make up for a slow first period during their 66-44 win over Johnson County.

Ellis, who finished the night with five 3-pointers and 21 points,  popped three treys in the second quarter to help Cloudland climb out to a 27-22 halftime lead. Ellis also finished the night with nine rebounds as she almost picked up a double-double.

“She puts a lot of effort in during practice,” Lady Highlanders head coach Lucas Andrews said after Monday’s game. “She always shoots it well during practice, and we have been waiting on her to light it up during a game. And she did.”

After allowing the Lady Longhorns to jump out to a 12-10 lead in the first period, the Lady ’Landers out scored Johnson County 17-10 in second quarter. To open the third period, Ellis and Shian Strickland, who had 17 points on the night, conducted 6-points to climb out to a 31-22 lead over Johnson County. From that point on, the Lady Highlanders maintained the lead as they out scored the Lady ’Horns 19-10 in the third.

Toward the end of the fourth, Cloudland’s Megan Lunsford picked up eight consecutive points to give her team a 62-40 lead over Johnson County with just two minutes left on the clock.

Lunsford finished the night with 10 points.

Thursday, the Lady Highlanders will travel over to South Greene, where they will open up conference play.

Cloudland 57, Johnson County 45 (Boys)

After a close battle, a fourth-quarter run would allow the Highlanders to pick up a 57-45 win over the Longhorns

Down 37-34 early in the fourth, the Highlanders went on a 10-point run to jump out to a 44-37  lead over Johnson County with 4:48 left to play. The drive was led by Preston Benfield, who picked up 6 of the 10 points. Benfield finished the night with 17 points.

With 2:33 left to play, Johnson County fought to within four points of Cloudland, but the Highlanders picked up  8 consecutive points to widen the final gap.

“We battled there in the fourth,” Cloudland head coach Gary Harrison said. “Johnson County is tough. . . Our kids just kept battling. We played pretty good defense all night, and we did a better job on the boards there at the end.”

Cloudland’s Jesse Potter picked up 15, while Colby Birchfield had 14 and Josh Blair recorded 9.

Like the Lady Highlanders, the ’Landers will be at South Greene on Thursday to begin conference play.

Girls

Cloudland 66-44

Johnson County 44

Cloudland 10 17 19 20 — 66

Johnson County 12 10 10 12 — 44

Cloudland 66

Lisa Ellis 21, Shian Strickland 17, Megan Lunsford 10, Payton Johnson 7, Patricia Singleton 4, Abbey Gouge 4, Trinity Vines 2, Johanna Johnson 1

Johnson City 44

Michala Cretsinger 15, Courtney Brooks 13, Destiny Cole 8, Britney Brooks 2, Kelsi Terrill 2, Britain Peele 2, Kelsey Duperry 2

3pt goals— Cloudland 5 (Ellis 5) Johnson County 4 (Brooks 2, Cole 1, Cretsinger 1)

Boys

Cloudland 57-45

Johnson County 45

Cloudland 57

Preston Benfield 17, Jesse Potter 15, Josh Blair 9, Colby Birchfield 14, Dalton Vines 2

Johnson County

Bud Icenhour 19, Jose Guzman 13, Cody Bailie 6, Brandon Vannoy 4, Jordan Edes 3

3pt goals— Cloudland 8 (Potter 3, Arnett 2, P. Benfield 2, Birchfield 1) Johnson County 4 (Icenhour 3, Guzman 1)