Fannin County’s Lady Rebels and Copper Basin’s Lady Cougars got off to a neck and neck start when the two teams squared off in Blue Ridge Saturday, November 29. That quickly changed in the second quarter when Fannin took control on their way to a 74-46 victory.
The opening quarter was a slugfest. Basin jumped out to a 5-2 lead behind a free throw from Cora Kimsey and jump shots by Kloie Ballew and Alexis Hyatt.
Reese Lewis had hit an early two pointer then Maggie Ledford tied the game at five with a three. Two free throws from Lewis gave Fannin the lead 7-5. Alexis Hyatt tied the game at seven for Basin, then Fannin regained the lead 9-7 on a Avi Ethington jumper. Riley Akens tied the game at nine for Copper Basin, then a Hyatt layup gave the visitors an 11-9 lead. A Lewis layup tied it at 11 moments later. Behind five points from Ledford the Lady Rebels ended the quarter 16-13.
Fannin’s defense dialed in for the second quarter while offensively the hosts outscored Basin 24-7. Ledford led the way with eight points including two from beyond the arc. Toccoa Hampton got in on the shooting game with seven points including one from downtown. Izzy Jabaley and Lewis had two points in the quarter. Brooklyn Owenby also showed her shooting skills with a shot from three-point land.
Basin scored seven points in the quarter. Ballew and Kimsey connected with field goals while Addison Hyatt hit two free throws and Akens hit one. Fannin led 40-20 at halftime.
Fannin continued its arial assault in the third quarter when a three pointer from Ethington started a 22 point third for the Lady Rebels. Jabaley hit two three-pointers from downtown while Toccoa Hampton and Ethington each hit shots from the outside. Ledford had two jumpers. Hampton added a layup and two free throws to the scoreboard and Lewis added two points.
The Lady Cougars scored 11 in the third with six points from Hyatt, three from Kimsey and two from Ballew.
Fannin led 62-31 at the buzzer.
The Lady Cougars outscored Fannin 15-12 in the final quarter.
Ledford finished with 19 points. Hampton finished with 16 points. Lewis had 15 points, Jabaley had eight points, Ethington and Owenby had five each while Breeden and Ellie Hampton had three each. Fannin went to the free throw line only four times and hit all four.
For Copper Basin, Kimsey finished with 15 points and was 5-for-8 from the line. Alexis Hyatt finished with 16 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line. Ballew finished with eight points. Akens had three points total including a free throw wile Deal and Addison Hyatt had two each. Addison’s were free throws. As a team, Basin was 12-for-16 from the free throw line.