Riding a five-game win streak on Tuesday night, Unaka welcomed Johnson County to Snavely gym.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Rangers had earned a 64-34 victory for their sixth-straight win.
Sophomore guard Cydney Forney led the way in the first half for Unaka who had balanced scoring throughout the lineup. Sarah Tipton, Madison Ensor, and Myah Parlier each had five in the first half as the Lady Rangers opened a 32-15 halftime advantage.
“I thought we did a good job tonight,” Lady Rangers head coach Kenneth Chambers said. “We missed some free throws and a few easy shots, but I was happy with the effort. We played real hard. Myah is a sophomore who didn’t play much varsity last year but is growing into a good player. I think she could be one of the better post players in the conference.”
The Rangers (8-2 overall) started hot in the first period taking a 20-7 lead in the early going shooting six-for-12 from the floor while forcing eight Lady Longhorn turnovers and holding Johnson County to three-for-nine (33 percent) shooting.
The third period was a defensive struggle with neither team allowing open or uncontested shots, but Unaka was able to maintain a 38-20 lead going into the fourth quarter. Unaka got a pair of baskets from Lexi Garland and Katlyn Burrow to help the Rangers open a 48-27 advantage at the 4:09 mark.
The Rangers opened their biggest lead of the game after back-to-back two-point buckets from Burrow and Parlier to make it a 56-32 game with 2:03 remaining. Ericka Potter then dropped in a trey as the last minute of the clock ticked off.
Parlier led the Rangers with 10 points and seven boards while Forney and Burrow each dropped in nine points. Michaela Cretsinger led all scorers with 11 points for Johnson County, with Taylor Parsons adding seven.
“As long as we keep improving and playing hard, I will be happy,” Chambers said. “We have a couple of tough games coming up, and this conference has always been South Greene, Hampton, and Cloudland. We just want to throw our name in the hat.”
Boys
Johnson County 62, Unaka 20
The Longhorns ran off to a 52-10 halftime lead with junior guard Bud Icenhour dropping in 15 points to lead Johnson County. After buckets from Joe Larson and a trey from Zack Eller, along with a three-point play by Troy Arnold, the ‘Horns took a commanding 60-18 lead with 2:27 left in the third quarter.
The clock ran continuously through the second half as JC led 62-20 going into the fourth period.
Icenhour led all scorers with 15 while Zack Eller contributed 12 for the ‘Horns. For Unaka, Isaac Hill had six points to lead the way.
“Aaron does a super job with his team,” Longhorns head coach Austin Atwood said. “Take away the 45 points from their two top scorers, and it makes it tough. Unaka was playing with a skeleton crew tonight, but I was glad about the way we played defense. I was kind of worried about that coming in, but we did a good job of not getting in foul trouble.”

Unaka 64-34
Johnson County (34)
Miller 2, B. Brooks 3, C. Brooks 5, Cretsinger 11, Winter 2, Parsons 7, Nichols 2, Cornett 2.
Unaka (64)
Sa. Tipton 5, Forney 9, Sav. Tipton 4, Markland 5, Parlier 10, Garland 8, Ensor 5, Burrow 9, E. Potter 3, T. Potter 6.

Johnson Co. 7 8 5 14 – 34
Unaka 20 12 6 26 – 64
3-point goals: JC 2-12 (Miller 0-1, B. Brooks 1-4, C. Brooks 0-1, Cretsinger 1-3, Cole 0-3). U 5- 13 (Sa. Tipton 0-2, Forney 0-2, Sav. Tipton 1-1, Markland 1-3, Ensor 1-3, Burrow 1-3, Potter 1- 1)