Hayesville Wins to Stay Undefeated on the Season

The Hayesville Yellow Jackets hosted the Andrews Wildcats on Friday evening in an important conference matchup. 

In the first quarter the game looked as if it was going to be a good matchup as the teams went back and forth. It was easy to tell what type of team Andrews is looking to be this year as they were letting threes fly early and often. They knocked down a few of those looks and built an early lead. Hayesville was still very much in striking distance though looking to pull close towards the end of the quarter. Even with a strong effort to end the quarter Hayesville trailed Andrews 17-12 to end the first quarter.

The Yellow Jackets charged back quickly to open the 2nd quarter. As Senior Blake McClure had 5 straight points to open the second quarter and bring the game back even. The Yellow Jackets carried McClure’s early momentum into team success as they played probably their best quarter of basketball this season. They held Andrews to just 10 points in the quarter while scoring 19 themselves. With a differential of plus nine for the Yellow Jackets in the quarter they held a 31-27 lead at the half. 

The second half started slow with both teams ratcheting up the defense and the buckets hard to find. About halfway through the second quarter though the Yellow Jackets started to find their groove again and put some points on the board.  A large part of this was due to their press defense that caused turnovers and helped them get some easier looks. With the Hayesville offense humming to end the quarter, they were able to extend their lead 45-36 going into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter had plenty of scoring early, but Hayesville was able to incrementally build on their lead, to a point where it was out of reach. As a common theme coming down the stretch of many games this year for the Yellow Jackets Kolbe Ashe took over. Making several big baskets down the stretch left Andrews with no chance for a last minute comeback. Hayesville won 68-54, staying undefeated on the season.

The Yellow Jackets will next play Tuesday, January 19th. They will play host the Cherokee Braves, in a conference matchup. To get updates or see how the Yellow Jackets have done tune in to all the latest coverage FYN sports on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and at https://claync.fetchyournews.com/category/teamfynsports