“We, as a coaching staff, looked at the last eight quarters we played,” said Rangers head coach Aaron Dugger. “We lost two quarters out of eight and it cost us two games. So we wanted to get off to a good start tonight. I have utmost respect for Cloudland and the job that Gary Harrison does with his team.”

Unaka (9-6, 1-2 MEC) got off to a good start by taking a 12-7 first quarter lead with guard Will Sexton and forward John Ramsey each scoring five points. The Rangers led 27-22 at the break and held a six-point lead at 42-36 going into the final stanza.

Cloudland (4-11, 1-2) scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to take a 44-42 lead with senior Robert Leeper scoring four points at the free throw line and Josh Blair adding a two-point bucket. Guard Colin Birchfield also hit a pair of free throws in the Highlanders run.

Unaka did not show any signs of folding with Ramsey putting in a rebound of a missed shot and senior guard Isaac Hill connecting on a runner down the lane for a 46-44 Rangers lead. Sexton then canned a 3-ball as Unaka now led 49-44 with 3:22 remaining.

Hunter Shell was on1-for-2 from the line and Ramsey answered with a deuce for Unaka before a bucket in the lane from Blair making it a 51-47 contest. Blair would hit another bucket but Unaka got three-for-four free throws from Sexton and Ryan Johnson to close things out.

GIRLS

Cloudland 56, Unaka 36

The Lady Highlanders dominated the boards the entire night and the combination of seniors Stacia Wilson and Trinity Vines frustrated Lady Rangers senior post Myah Parlier into her worst game of the season.

Parlier, a double-double threat every time, outscored just seven points and had four rebounds and one blocked shot while Vines scored a game-high 18 points with seven boards and a block.

“The key thing for us was we played much better defense and we rebounded the heck out of the ball,” Lady ‘Landers head coach Mike Lunsford said. “We didn’t dribble into messes either. We passed the ball and we made it tough for them to pass and catch the ball. When you pass the ball you get it back and you set teammates up. This was the hardest we have played all season, our guards gave a lot of effort.”

Senior Gracie Freeman scored nine points and pulled down eight rebounds, with four coming on the offensive end. Fellow senior Megan Lunsford scored 11 points and took down six boards while running the offense.

The ‘Landers never trailed in this one taking a 31-15 halftime lead and extending to a 42-28 lead going into the last quarter. Senior guard Savannah Tipton scored a team-high 14 points and added eight rebounds.

BOYS

Unaka 54-49

Unaka (54)

Johnson 7, Sexton 14, Hill 10, Whitehead 2, Drew 4, Ramsey 17.

Cloudland (49)

Birchfield 5, Shell 1, E. Blair 9, Leeper 14, Lacy 3, Johnson 3, J. Blair 11, Stevens 3

Unaka 12 15 15 12 – 54

Cloudland 7 15 14 13 – 49

3-point goals: U 4 (Johnson 2, Sexton 2), C 2 (Johnson 1, Blair 1)

GIRLS

Cloudland 56-36

Unaka (36)

Pierce 3, T. Whitehead 3, J. Whitehead 4, C. Forney 2, Tipton 14, Ensor 3, Parlier 7.

Cloudland (56)

Wilson 6, K. Birchfield 3, Benfield 7, J. Birchfield 2, Freeman 9, Lunsford 11, Vines 18.

Unaka 7 8 13 8 – 36

Cloudland 11 20 11 14 – 56

3-point goals: U 3 (Pierce 1, T. Whitehead 1, Ensor 1), C 11 (Vines 4, Freeman 3, Lunsford 3, K. Birchfield 1)