The 15th seeded Hayesville Lady Yellow Jackets travel to take on the 2nd seeded Alleghany Lady Trojans tonight. This is a 2nd round matchup in the NCHSAA playoffs, with 32 teams left playing in the entire 1A classification. Hayesville is coming off a big first round win that was an absolute battle for four quarters. Expect much of the same tonight, at this point in the year every team left is solid.

Playoff Bracket

The Lady Yellow Jackets have had games this year where they have competed with some of the best teams in the state. No doubt playing in what many believe to be the best 1A girls conference in the state prepares them for games like this. First the Lady Yellow Jackets have to endure a five plus hour bus ride. If they can not let that affect them too much they will have a great chance at an upset.

In talks with head coach Chad McClure he felt good about his team’s chances to pull the upset. Here is his exclusive round 2 preview interview.

1. Big win over Polk Co. any thoughts on your teams first round win?

We didn’t play our best game but played well enough to win.  This team has been scrappy all year and we had some kids step up.  Polk did a good job shutting down our inside game. Lizzy and Annie really gave us a boost when we needed it.

2. What do you know about Alleghany, your second round opponent?

They are solid, won 25 games, and seem to be pretty balanced as 4 players average double figures. 

3. How to quick turnarounds only 1 day between games change your ability to get ready for games?

It is tough because you try to get info quickly to prepare your team as much as possible but in this time of the year you just fine tune your system and stay polished on skills

4. What does your team need to do to win and advance on Thursday?

First we have to handle the long road trip.  We will have to handle the environment. Every team left is good. We just have to be better for 32 minutes.

The Alleghany Lady Trojans are a very experienced team with five of their top six scorers being seniors. In talks with their coach this is a year that her team has been building for with six seniors and three juniors on the team. They have three players shooting over 50% from the three point line. The Lady Yellow Jackets will need to slow down their shooting and pull down rebounds to keep them from getting second chance points.

The Lady Yellow Jackets got a season best performance out of Lizzy Brusini on Tuesday night. Brusini has not been a top scorer for the Lady Yellow Jackets throughout the year. Yet her season best performance led the way for the win on Tuesday. Who might step up tonight for Hayesville? That is yet to be determined but if the Lady Yellow Jackets can get players to continually step up in big games don’t be surprised if they make a playoff run.

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