Lady Indians win final two games in Battle of the States

The LCHS varsity girls basketball team fell to 2-4 in Region 7-AAA play when the Lady Indians dropped a close game to conference foe North Hall last week after finishing up the Battle of the States holiday basketball tournament with a 2-1 record.
The Lady Indians, currently 10-7 overall, bounced back from a first round 70-65 overtime defeat at the hands of Murphy, N.C. to win their final two games of the Battle of the States tournament hosted by Towns County, including a 50-34 win over Hayesville, N.C. in the final round on Saturday, Dec. 28.
Lumpkin made short work of the Lady Yellowjackets in the final round of the three-day tournament with a feisty defense that appeared hungry to disrupt every aspect of Hayesville’s offensive strategy and some hot shooting from freshman Kate Jackson, junior Isabel Davenport and senior Madisyn Echols.
The Lady Indians jumped ahead early in the contest with a 9-0 run to start the game. Hayesville closed the gap to 14-7 by the quarter’s end.
In the second quarter the two teams went toe-to-toe, with both teams scoring 10 points. The result was a 24-17 halftime advantage for the Lady Indians.
The second half proved to be all Lumpkin, as the Lady Indians outscored Hayesville 12-10 in the third quarter and 14-9 in the fourth quarter to earn themselves a decisive 50-34 win over the Lady Yellowjackets.
Jackson, Davenport and Echols all scored in double digits for the Lady Indians in the victory. Jackson led the team with 16 points, all of which came in the second half of play. Davenport finished right behind Jackson with 15 points and Echols contributed 10 points in the win.
The victory allowed Lumpkin to finish the tournament with a 2-1 record, losing only to Murphy, N.C. who would go on to win the Battle of the States tournament.
Davenport was recognized for her strong play during the tournament by being named to the All-Tournament team after the Lady Indians’ win.
The Lady Indians followed their solid performance at the Battle of the States with an all-important region matchup on the road versus the North Hall Lady Trojans on Friday, Jan. 3.
The two teams battled it out in the first quarter with the Lady Trojans getting a slight advantage. Lumpkin found itself down by three points headed into the second quarter down 13-10.
However, the shooters for the Lady Indians started to heat up in the second quarter thanks, in large part, to Lumpkin’s defense getting more active and forcing North Hall into mistakes. The Lady Indians erased the Lady Trojans’ lead with a 16-6 second quarter run and took a 26-19 lead into the halftime break.
North Hall answered back with a vengeance in the third quarter, outscoring Lumpkin 22-6 to retake the lead at 41-32 by the quarter’s end.
Lumpkin tried to keep the contest close in the fourth quarter and did their best to close the gap between themselves and the Lady Trojans as the clock wound down. Unfortunately an 8-5 run in the final quarter wouldn’t be enough for the Lady Indians to complete the comeback and Lumpkin ended up falling to North Hall by a final score of 46-40.
The loss was hard for LCHS head girls basketball coach David Dowse to handle.
“It’s the difference between us being 3-3 in the region or being 2-4 in the region,” said Dowse. “A loss makes things a lot more difficult for us as we head down the stretch.”
Davenport, who is 80 points away from becoming a member of the 1,000-point club, put in an inspiring performance for Lumpkin in the loss, scoring 26 points.
Echols finished the contest with six points, Makenzie Caldwell added four points and both Kate Jackson and Lexi Pierce contributed two points.
The defeat dropped the Lady Indians’ regain record to 2-4 and their overall record to 10-7 with seven games remaining in the 2019-2020 regular season.
The LCHS varsity girls basketball team will look to bounce back from its loss to North Hall when they host the Cherokee Bluff Lady Bears at the Longhouse at the LCHS gymnasium this Friday, Jan. 10. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.