The Lady Braves (13-1) had one of their closest games of the season on Friday, Jan. 11 against Hayesville, but they managed to stay undefeated in the Smoky Mountain Conference with a 48-40 win.
Kendall Toineeta led Cherokee with 18pts followed by Alexis Maney with 13.
Hayesville jumped out to an early lead in this game and led 15-9 after the first period. Cherokee stormed back in the second period and outscored the Lady Yellow Jackets 13-2 to take a 22-17 lead into the locker room.
The third period was just about even with Hayesville outscoring Cherokee by one (9-8). The Lady Braves held strong in the final period outscoring the Lady Yellow Jackets 18-14 to take the eight-point win.
Other Lady Braves scorers included: Le Le Lossiah 2, Bree Stamper 1, Jordyn Thompson 5, Deija Burgess 2 and Avery Mintz 7.
Hayesville scorers included: Kylie Leek 6, Megan McQuade 11, Courtney McNabb 2, Rachel Benson 3, Amanda Thompson 15 and Audrey Rogers 3.
The Braves (7-5) did not fare as well losing 66-46, their first conference loss.
Eli Littlejohn led Cherokee with 19pts followed by Darius Thompson with 11.
The first half was close with Hayesville leading by one (9-8) at the end of the first and 29-24 at the half. The Yellow Jackets came out of the locker room and ran away with the third period outscoring the Braves 22-4. Cherokee came back and outscored Hayesville 18-15 in the final period, but it was not enough.
Other Braves scorers included: Raven Frankiewicz 4, Dustin Johnson 6, Brandt Sutton 4 and Jesse Toineeta 2.
Hayesville scorers included: Cass Coleman 12, Clint Coleman 1, Isaac Mills 10, Chris Rhinehart 3, Braxton Cox 2, Dylan Williams 7, Day Day Williams 8, Grant Arencibia 3 and Zach Cottrell 20.
– ONE FEATHER STAFF REPORT
