Roping the ‘Horns… Cyclones pick up key TRC wins on Homecoming night
Published 12:37 am Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton's Kaitlin Bailey goes up for a layup.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton's Bryce VanHuss pulls the trigger on a corner trey.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cyclone Jordan Haynes pulls up for a jumper in the lane.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cyclone post Nicholas Wilson goes up for a layup attempt.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cyclone guard Parker Hughes pushes the basketball toward the rim.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Everything came up all smiles during Homecoming 2020 at the Elizabethton and Johnson County game. The EHS cheerleaders flash off big smiles as their Cyclones took both varsity games.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jake Roberts of Elizabethton pulls up for a shot beyond the arc. Roberts drained five treys in the second quarter alone to push the Cyclones out front to stay.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton's William Willocks goes strong for a basket in action against Johnson County.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Cyclones Nico Ashley goes up for a reverse layup.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cyclone guard Parker Hughes works the basketball up the floor against a Longhorn defender.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Lady Cyclone Torrie Roberts looks to make a pass against Johnson County.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Nina Lyon of Elizabethton takes the ball up against Johnson County.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Morgan Headrick drives for a basket against the Lady 'Horns.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
As the regular season quickly descends its way to district tournament time, every game in conference play is critical for seeding purposes heading into the tournament.
With that in mind, both Johnson County and Elizabethton realized the importance of Friday night’s contest which was Homecoming for the Cyclones.
Girls
2 OT’s
Elizabethton….64
Johnson Co. …59
In a game that 36 minutes couldn’t provide a victor, the Lady Cyclones finally managed to use an additional four minutes to pull away for the double-overtime win over a very good Johnson County Lady Longhorn team.
Regulation ended in a 55-55 tie with the first overtime concluding tied at 57-all.
Elizabethton senior Kaylen Shell took over in the second overtime to propel the Lady Cyclones to the win scoring five of the team’s seven points in the session.
Morgan Headrick led the Lady Cyclone attack with 18 points in the win with Shell finishing on her heels with 17.
The Cyclones also got a good performance from Torrie Roberts who looked like her old self in stroking three long-range bombs for nine points.
Kaitlin Bailey finished strong with seven points with Renna Lane adding six to the win.
Cheyenne VanHuss (3), Lina Lyon (2), and Kelsie Winters (2) also contributed to the hard-fought win.
Taylor Cox scored a game-high 24 points to lead Johnson County. Sadie Stout also had a stellar game adding 12 points in the defeat.
Emmy Miller (7), Abby Cornett (6), Taylor Parsons (5), and Natalie Winters (5) closed out the scoring for the Lady ‘Horns.
“We didn’t think 32 minutes were enough,” said Lady Cyclone head coach Lucas Andrews. “Johnson County is really good and well-coached.
“This game right here is one where we know what they are going to do and they know what we are going to do. It’s just a matter of execution.
“They would execute a couple of minutes and then wouldn’t and then we would execute a couple of minutes and then we wouldn’t,” continued Andrews.
“This was a chess match and I thought our kids executed more down the stretch than theirs did.”
Boys
Elizabethton…67
Johnson Co. …43
The Cyclones played their most complete game of the season to date as Coach Lucas Honeycutt’s team stormed to a 38-19 halftime advantage and never looked back.
A total of 10 Cyclones scored in the contest led by Jake Roberts who stroked five treys in the second period to help the Cyclones pull away.
Roberts totaled 21 points while senior Nico Ashley, playing in his last Homecoming game, collected 19 points.
Parker Hughes tallied eight points still trying to regain his strength from the flu while Donta Earnest and William Willocks finished with four points apiece.
Brayden Phillips (3), Bryce VanHuss (3), Nicholas Wilson (2), Jordan Haynes (2), and Nate Stephens (1) closed out the scoring ledger for the Cyclones.
Michael Oxentine led the Longhorns with 11 points. Zack Parsons hit double figures with 10 in the game.
Clayton Cross (6), Preston Greer (4), Ethan Bower (3), Lucas Phillips (3), Trevor Gentry (2), Gavin Ward (2), D. Robinson (1), and Peyton Pavusek (1) also added points for Johnson County.
“As a coaching staff, we didn’t have to think much because they did all the work for us,” said Cyclone head coach Lucas Honeycutt. “ I thought we came out in the first quarter just firing playing off the crowd and the energy.
“A lot of people came out for Homecoming night to support these kids and it was fun to watch and see.
“We just buckled down in the second quarter and finished out the game well.”
