Photo Courtesy of Scot McKie
Bryson City – Rarely do big games live up to the hype that usually precedes them, but Thursday’s showdown between the top two teams in the Smoky Mountain Conference was all that and then some. Swain and Cherokee both entered the contest unbeaten in SMC play. The Braves used a solid first quarter to take a 70-68 win over Swain, in front of capacity crowd.
The game went back and forth with 8 lead changes and 9 ties. After the Braves solid first quarter, the Maroon Devils stormed back in the second taking a slim 41-40 lead at the half. In the second half the lead and momentum swayed back and forth until 1:02 mark in the fourth when the Braves Holden Straughn hit a corner three pointer that put the Braves up for good.
Straughn paced the Braves with a team high 20 points, while Sterling Santa-Maria added 17.
Evan Bradley led Swain with a game high 22 points and 8 assists. Zeke Bradley finished with 17 points for the Devils, who also got a game high 13 rebounds from Brier Younce.
The two teams will meet again next Friday at Cherokee.
Cherokee (11-5 (7-0))
Tye Mintz 4-13 5-6 14, Cade Mintz 0-0 0-0 0, Josiah Lossiah 3-5 1-2 7, Blake Smith 1-4 0-0 2, Holden Straughn 8-21 3-6 20, Isaiah Evans 5-9 2-3 14, Jack Layno 0-0 0-0 0, Sterling Santa-Maria 5-13 1-1 17, Menoch Grant 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 26-67 12-20 71
Maroon Devils (18-1 (8-0))
Evan Bradley 6-16 5-5 22, Darren Blankenship 0-4 0-0 0, Brier Younce 2-9 2-4 7, Brett Treadway 1-6 2-3 4, Zeke Bradley 7-13 2-5 17, Seth Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Phinehas Little 3-11 0-2 7, Clayton Catolster 5-8 0-0 9, Nolan Arkansas 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 24-68 12-21 66
| SCORE BY PERIODS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | TOTAL |
| Cherokee | 26 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 70 |
| Maroon Devils | 19 | 22 | 16 | 11 | 68 |
FG%: Cherokee .388, Maroon Devils .353. 3-pt FG:Cherokee 7-23 (Mintz 1-7, Smith 0-3, Straughn 3-7, Santa-Maria 3-6), Maroon Devils 6-30 (Bradley 2-11, Blankenship 0-4, Younce 1-5, Bradley 2-4, Little 0-4, Catolster 1-2). Rebounds: Cherokee 39 (Evans 8), Maroon Devils 44 (Younce 13). Fouls Cherokee 21, Maroon Devils 18. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: Cherokee 24 (Tye Mintz 6), Maroon Devils 24 (Bradley 8). Steals: Cherokee 17 (Straughn 5), Maroon Devils 13 (Evan Bradley 4). Blocked shots: Cherokee 0, Maroon Devils 2 (Bradley 2). Turnovers: Cherokee 17, Maroon Devils 17. Attendance: 0.