The Little Smoky Mountain 1-A Conference basketball tournament got underway on Tuesday night with five local teams in action.
Highlands junior varsity boys kicked off the festivities with a 14-point win over Hiwassee Dam in the JV championship game.
The first varsity game of the night featured the Blue Ridge boys also taking on the Eagles from Hiwassee Dam.
Blue Ridge used a strong early defensive effort to keep the game close early, but the second quarter proved to be too much for the Bobcats’ to overcome.
Hiwassee Dam switched to its own full court zone trap on defense and forced multiple turnovers in the period. Eagles guard Jonah Dockery was the beneficiary of several Blue Ridge turnovers, which he turned into easy layups. Dockery scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the second quarter.
By the halftime break the Eagles’ lead had ballooned to 49-19.
Hiwassee Dam maintained the advantage throughout the second half and went on to claim at 76-37 win.
Luke Harbin added 12 points for the Eagles and Jimmy Kelly finished with eight.
Blue Ridge was paced by nine points from Connor McCall. Evan Pressley added eight points.
Blue Ridge ended its season with a 2-18 record. Hiwassee Dam advanced to the conference championship game on Thursday night at Highlands School.
Highlands girls cruise
Highlands varsity girls got off to a hot start and never looked back in a 66-16 win over Blue Ridge. It was the Highlanders third victory over the Bobcats this season.
Highlands (13-10 overall) advances to take on Hiwassee Dam in the championship game on Thursday night.
Highlands boys avenge loss
Highlands varsity boys ended the evening with a 62-49 win over Nantahala. The victory came on the heels of a pair of regular-season losses to the Hawks.
Highlands improved to 8-17 on the season. The Highlanders will take on Hiwassee Dam on Thursday night in the championship game.