Hayesville Yellow Jackets season ends in third-round loss.

The Hayesville Yellow Jackets traveled all the way to Siler City to take on the Chatham Charter Knights on Saturday, Feb. 29. It was a long five-plus hour drive on the bus and it appeared to affect the Jackets. They never truly got going Saturday and did play to the level that they are capable of. It resulted in a loss to Chatham by a score of 58-40, the game being much closer than the final score.

Neither team got off to a quick start with both teams only scoring in the single digits in the first quarter. You could tell the Yellow Jackets’ long ride hurt them early in the game because the energy level wasn’t high. The first quarter ended with Chatham having a narrow 9-5 lead.

In the second quarter, Chatham found some baskets with strong finishes at the rim. Hayesvilles shots were still not falling, allowing Chatham to extend their lead at halftime. At the half, Chatham Charter led the Yellow Jackets 27-19.

Hayesville knew they needed to make a third quarter run to have a chance. They did just that, outscoring Chatham in the third quarter. Yet they could never get it quite close enough to take a lead. Chatham played a packed in 2-3 zone all night, not giving anything easy inside. Hayesville had one of their worst shooting nights of the year. It was a perfect storm in favor of Chatham. 

If Hayesville would have had just a below average shooting night from three that may have been enough to win. Yet Chatham’s game plan was solid and they did not make many mistakes on the night. This allowed them to finish the game winning 58-40.

Hayesville leaders for the night:

Jake McTaggart 15 points

Hayden McClure 13 points

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