Let’s take a look at the Hayesville Lady Yellow Jackets previous week from 12/30-1/05. The Lady Yellow Jackets finally got a well deserved holiday break after playing in the very competitive Battle of the States tournament. Head Coach Chad McClure gave the team a practice or two off and said his team would focus on the fundamentals once they started back. They played only one game a, a saturday matchup with border rivals Towns Co.

In their game against the Towns Co. Lady Indians Hayesville came in knowing they would have be ready to handle full court pressure. Head Coach Chad McClure and staff had the Lady Yellow Jackets ready from the get go. They got off to a great start to gain an early lead and important early game momentum. The Lady Indians fought back and never allowed Hayesville to increase their first quarter lead by more than a few points. Yet they also could never get over the hump to take a lead of their own. Hayesville defeated Towns Co. for the second time in as many weeks 46-37.

This upcoming week should be a great week for basketball fans as the Lady Yellow Jackets have a full three game slate. They start the week hosting Highlands followed by an away game a short drive away to Hiwassee Dam. They wrap up their week up their week by hosting a conference opponent in the Andrews Lady Wildcats. Friday evening will a special treat for Yellow Jackets fans as Hayesville will be retiring Amanda Thompson #20 jersey after a storied high school and college career. There will be a full interview exclusive with Amanda Thompson later this week.

Coaches Corner weekly exclusive interview with head coach Chad McClure:

1. Another good win over Towns Co. what was the key to the game for your team coach?

Going in we knew we had to handle their pressure and really force them into a half court game.   We got the lead early and defensively we were able to slow them down enough even when our shots weren’t falling.

2. With more games three than practice this week how do you handle game planning?

We just take it one day at a time. At this point in the season, most of our system is in so we just focus on minor adjustments and stress taking care of ourselves and focusing on the task at hand.

3. You seem to be getting different leading scorers each game. What does that say about your team’s flexibility?

All 8 of our players contribute in their own way. This team is very united and works well together. They share the ball and don’t care who gets the credit. 

4. Anything you would like to share about your three opponents this week for readers to look out for?

Highlands is a scrappy team similar to us. Hiwassee Dam is good with a lot of size. Andrews is rebuilding but their kids play hard.

Preview:

In the first game of the week the Lady Yellow Jackets will be hosting the Highland Lady Highlanders. The Lady Highlanders come into the game 4-6 but don’t let their record fool you. They have played some tough competition, a one point loss to Franklin, win over Hiwassee Dam, Towns Co and Brevard. It appears in this game the two teams could be fairly evenly matched. This game will come down to three things in my opinion, first taking care of the ball to limit turnovers. Secondly if one team has a large margin in rebounding that could be the difference. Lastly offensive execution will be big, who can get it to their scorers in effective places.

On Tuesday night the Lady Yellow Jackets will travel across county lines and head to Hiwassee Dam. The Lady Eagles are 4-6 coming into the game but are on an upswing winning all four of those games within their last five. As well they are a well coach disciplined group with quite a bit of size to contend with. Hayesville will look to keep their trio of Junior post players Brianna Burnette, Kynnly McClure and Jocelin Buckner out of foul trouble. If Hayesville three player rotation can provide some rebound and force tough shots the Lady Yellow Jackets stand a good chance to win.

After a couple of practices Hayesville will wrap up their week with their only conference game of the week hosting the Andrews Lady Wildcats. It should be a special night with the jersey retirement of former Hayesville star Amanda Thomspon. The Lady Yellow Jackets are sure to want to get a good result for their former player on her big night. The task should be doable. The Lady Wildcats are a young scrappy group but are just not ready to compete at the highest level in the conference this year. 

The Lady Yellow Jackets have three winnable games this week. The question is can they get off to better starts that plagued them in the Battle of the States? I believe they can and showed they have made progress with that against Towns Co. last week. The prediction is 3-0 this week but more games than practice in a week can be a tough task. It will require high focus and good execution for the Lady Yellow Jackets to do it.

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