East pulls away late to steal Upper Lakes victory over Cyclones
Published 10:45 am Monday, January 8, 2024
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton's Jeriah Griffin applies the defensive pressure against Sullivan East's Drake Fisher.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cyclone guard Andrew Barnett brings the ball into the front court against an East defender.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton's head coach talks to his team during a timeout.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cyclone senior Will Churchill plays in your face defense against a Patriot ball handler.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Will Churchill drives the basketball to the rim with authority.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders EHS cheerleader Xandi Crockett cheers the Cyclones on during their conference opener against East.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jeriah Griffin attacks the basket as an East defender tries to block the shot.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Zach Wallin goes in for a layup in the Cyclones game with Sullivan East.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Cyclone cheerleaders perform a stunt during a timeout.
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
If you plan on running with the big dogs in conference basketball play, the one thing you can’t let happen is let them get to far out front and having to play catch-up the whole contest.
That’s what happened to the Elizabethton Cyclones when they hosted the Sullivan East Patriots for their conference opener on Friday inside John Treadway Gymnasium.
East posted an 18-6 first quarter and never trailed in the contest as they took a 56-42 victory over the Cyclones in a game where the Cyclones cut the lead down to five at a couple of different intervals before East put on runs to get more breathing room from the host team.
Behind seven points apiece from Ben Lowe and Tyler Cross, the Patriots built a 28-20 lead over the home team.
Mac Paulson came off the bench to score nine points to pace Elizabethton while post Jackson Hobbs added six points to keep the Cyclones within shooting range of the Patriots.
The Patriots found success attacking the basket often for easy layups while the Cyclones struggled with their shooting the entire contest.
Four Patriots reached double-figure scoring in the contest led by Cross with 13 points. Lowe collected an even dozen while Corbin Laisure and Drake Fisher finished with 11 and 10 points respectively for the victors.
Hobbs was the game-high scorer in the contest with 18 points, several coming on strong moves to the rim for Elizabethton.
Paulson also hit double digits for the Cyclones with 12. Jeriah Griffin added five points for Coach Lucas Honeycutt’s team with Andrew Barnett adding a trey. Will Churchill and Nathan Bailey each collected a deuce apiece.
The Cyclones host Crockett on Tuesday evening at 8 pm inside John Treadway Gym.
