On Thursday night, Dec. 19, the Hayesville Lady Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-0 Big Smoky Mountain 1-A) took the trip across the county line to take on their bitter rivals, the Murphy Lady Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0). The game was an interesting matchup as the only conference loss Murphy took last year was against Hayesville. 

Annie Brooks launches a three.

The first quarter was highly contested with the Lady Yellow Jackets and the Lady Bulldogs trading punches. One of Hayesvilles keys to their early-season success has been strong offensive execution. That was on display early with the Lady Yellow Jackets at one point running their motion offense for 75 seconds. Unfortunately, their strong offensive execution in the first quarter while leading to good looks was not resulting in points. This resulted in the Lady Jackets ending the first quarter trailing the Lady Bulldogs 17-8.

The Lady Bulldogs put all of their talent on display in the second quarter much to the Lady Jackets dismay. The Lady Jackets were able to match their first quarter scoring total in the second quarter but it was not enough to keep up. The Lady Bulldogs poured it on in the second quarter thanks to their high-pressure defense and hot shooting, scoring 21 second quarter points and leading 38-16 at the half.

It was more of the same in the second half with the Lady Bulldogs controlling the action. The Hayesville Lady Yellow Jackets were playing hard but the Lady Bulldogs press defense gave the Lady Jackets a hard time. At the end of the third, the Lady Bulldogs led 62-29.

Coming into the fourth quarter, the Lady Yellow Jackets did not give up and actually outscored the Lady Bulldogs by nine points in the fourth quarter. This came with most of the Bulldog starters still in the game and showed that while the score was insurmountable. The Lady Yellow Jackets could play with them and may possibly show them what to do before their next matchup.

Brianna Foster drives to the lane for two.

The Jackets did have a few strong performances in the game being led in scoring by junior Brianna Foster with 15. Senior Annie Brooks chipped eight while both junior Lizzy Brusini and Senior Jade Patterson had six points a piece. 

The Hayesville Lady Yellow Jackets (3-2, 2-1) will next take the floor at home Friday Dec 20th against the Robbinsville Lady Black Knights (2-0, 0-0).