The Hayesville Yellow Jackets continue their incredible run of the play that has lasted for almost two seasons now. The Yellow Jackets defended home court last night against rival Murphy. It was a special night in Hayesville as the Yellow Jackets retired Zach Cottrell’s jersey. After the ceremony between the boys and girls games, the Yellow Jackets boys team took the floor. They made Cottrell proud, who now serves as an assistant coach by beating their county line rivals 77-50.

Jersey Retirement:

Hayesville honored Zach Cottrell for his outstanding playing career, both as a Yellow Jacket and collegiately. Arguably the best boys player in Smoky Mountain Conference history, Cottrell is the only player to win the SMC Conference Player of the Year award four times. Cottrell was also four-time NCPreps all-state and NCHSAA all-state three times. Cottrell scored 1978 career points and, at the time of his graduation, was the program’s all-time leading scorer to go along with 976 career rebounds. Throughout his playing career, Cottrell led his team to four consecutive conference championships.

1st Half:

Once the action started shortly after the jersey retirement ceremony, the Yellow Jackets played one of their best games of the season. Hayesville’s offense was dominant, and no matter what the Bulldogs tried to do defensively, the Yellow Jackets had the answer. Give credit to Murphy point guard Dillian Brown who single-handedly kept the Bulldogs within reach for most of the 1st half with 17 points and 15 coming in the 2nd quarter alone.

Yet his big first-half performance was surpassed by Hayesvilles Jake Mctaggart, who had 19 first-half points, including 3-3 from three-point range. The difference was outside of those two outstanding first-half performances, Mctaggarts teammates also scored quite a bit as well as three other Yellow Jackets had seven or more first-half points. By the halftime horn, Hayesville led 44-28.

2nd Half:

Murphy, who let a 20+ point lead slip away the night before, had thoughts of a similar comeback against Hayesville. The Yellow Jackets quickly shut down any thoughts of a Bulldog comeback. The sting of the Yellow Jackets was more potent than the Bulldogs bite on this night. Hayesville held Murphy to just five third-quarter points, and the game was out of reach in the opening moments of the third quarter. Going on to win 77-50 Hayesville stays undefeated and comes up with a regular-season sweep over their rivals.

Hayesville Leading Scorers:

Jake Mctaggart 29 points
Ethan Hooper 11 points
Kolbe Ashe 10 points
Logan Caldwell 10 points
Kyle Lunsford 8 points

Postgame Interview with Jake Mctaggart:

Be aware Hayesville fans, the Yellow Jackets game today against Franklin has been postponed/canceled. The Yellow Jackets will next play on Tuesday, February 1st, in a critical conference matchup at Swain. To get updates or see how the Yellow Jackets have done, tune in to all the latest Team FYN sports coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at https://claync.fetchyournews.com/category/teamfynsports