With the Three Rivers Conference regular season wrapping up this week in advance of the district tournament next week, every game is a crucial game.

After finally getting on the court,  after being delayed one day by the recent snow, the Elizabethton Cyclones continued to clutch tightly to second place in the conference with a 60-59 win over Happy Valley.

The Warriors (2-8, 13-12) didn’t make things easy for the Cyclones from start to finish as Coach Chuck Babb’s team led at the first horn 17-15 behind five points from Austin Hicks and Josh Hammond’s five.

Elizabethton (9-2, 15-9) managed to get back on track in the second period turning the two-point deficit into a six-point halftime lead, 32-26.

Bo Pless and Michael Robinson ignited the comeback as Pless accounted for 12 in the opening half while Robinson dropped in 11 points.

Hammonds finished the first 16 minutes as the leading scorer for Happy Valley with eight.

‘Betsy needed every point they could muster as Happy Valley allowed the Cyclones to pull out to a 10-point lead in the second half before the Warriors began reeling the Cyclones in.

With Elizabethton leading 48-40 heading into the fourth period, Happy Valley began to slice into the lead as Brayden Sams drilled two key three-pointers, while teammates Hammonds and Chris Young added four each to cut the lead to 52-50 with 2:02 to play.

“I thought we had a good plan going in,” said Babb. “We actually stayed to it this time. There were moments where it started to crumble a little bit, but the thing is we made some big shots when they went up seven, eight, nine points.

“We wanted to keep it in striking distance going into the fourth,” added Babb. “We thought rebounding was going to be a key tonight and it was. We made some adjustments on the defensive end and made some stops when we needed to.”

The Cyclones visited the charity stripe 12 times in the final period and managed to hit eight of those.

None of those were more critical than Teve Mushayamunda’s two made shots with 11 seconds left to play to push the Cyclone lead to 60-56.

Those were important because Tyler Torbett made a turn-around trey as the horn sounded to give the final one-point margin of victory.

“I was very thankful for those free throws,” said Cyclone head coach Lucas Honeycutt on Mushayamunda’s two free throws. “You know, he was cold coming off the bench. We were putting him in for defense to try and help with some of their penetration.

“I asked him when he came over during one of those time outs if he was good to go, and I was basically asking him if he was ready to shoot free throws,” added Honeycutt. “He said yeah and he was real confident with that and hit two big shots. It was a tough win.”

Hammonds led all scorers in the contest with 19. Sams pitched in with 12 while Hicks and Torbett contributed with 10 points each.

Elizabethton was led by its one-two punch of Pless and Robinson who swished the nets to the tune of 18 points apiece.

Jalen Smith and Hayden Townsend recorded five each with a trio of players recording four apiece including Carter Everett, Alex Norwood, and Mushayamunda.

The Cyclones play host to Science Hill for Senior Night on Friday night and then travel to Johnson County on Saturday for a 3:30 pm and 5 pm varsity-only makeup games against the Longhorns as the ladies tip off first at 3:30 pm.

Girls

Elizabethton…..69

Happy Valley…24

After a tight affair at Happy Valley in their last matchup, the Lady Cyclones were determined to get off to a fast start on their home court and did so by running out to a 14-0 early first-quarter advantage and never looked back in downing the Lady Warriors 69-24.

Kelci Marosites, Emily Kiser and Emily Schubert were all the firepower Elizabethton (11-0, 25-0) would need in the opening half as Marosites popped the twine for 11, Kiser 10, and Schubert eight points in putting together a 36-11 edge at the break.

Kalee Johnson was about the only offense the Lady Warriors (6-4, 19-8) could find in the opening 16 minutes as the senior scored eight in the half. Brianna Buck chipped in with two points and Sydney Puckett added 1-of-2 from the foul line.

Elizabethton salted away the game in the third quarter with a 26-13 period led by 11 points from Kayla Marosites. Kiser also added a solid period with eight points included two treys.

Johnson led the Lady Warriors with six in the period.

Kayla Marosites was the game-high scorer with 20 points for ‘Betsy. Kiser finished with 18 points while Kelci Marosites and Schubert finished with 15 points each.

Johnson led Happy Valley with 14 points. Buck contributed four while Haley Green added three points.

The Lady Cyclones clinched the regular-season Three Rivers Conference title with the win.

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BOYS

Elizabethton,

Happy Valley (59)

Chris Young 4, Josh Hammonds 19, Nathan Kyte 4, Tyler Torbett 10, Austin Hicks 10, Brayden Sams 12.

Elizabethton (60)

Michael Robinson 18, Teve Mushayamunda 4, Jalen Smith 5, Hayden Townsend 5, Eric Wilson 2, Alex Norwood 4, Bo Pless 18, Carter Everett 4.

Happy Valley……17     9   14   19 – 59

Elizabethton……..15   17   16   12 – 60

3-PT GOALS: Happy Valley 8 (Josh Hammonds 2, Brayden Sams 4, Tyler Torbett 2). Elizabethton 6 (Bo Pless 2, Michael Robinson 4).

GIRLS

Elizabethton, 69-24

Happy Valley (24)

Bayley McGee 2, Sydney Puckett 1, Haley Green 3, Brianna Buck 4, Kalee Johnson 14.

Elizabethton (69)

Kayla Marosites 20, Kelci Marosites 15, Emily Kiser 18, Emily Schubert 15, Brittany Campbell 1.

Happy Valley……  6    5   13   0 – 24

Elizabethton……..21  13   26   7 – 69

3-PT GOALS: Happy Valley 1 (Kalee Johnson). Elizabethton 9 (Kelci Marosites 3, Emily Kiser 4, Kayla Marosites 2).