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Photo by Hannah Styles/SMT Cooper Hyatt bounds above the opponents’ heads for an incredible shot against Andrews.
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The Swain County High School Maroon Devils Varsity Basketball team is currently ranked 4th in the North Carolina 1A Division thanks to two wins last week. Last Tuesday, the Maroon Devils took on the Robbinsville Black Knights at home for an 81-67 win.
The game stayed tight with Robbinsville scoring 20 points in the first quarter and Swain scoring 19, but in the second quarter Swain took back the reins with an eight-point surplus and went into halftime with 41-34.
After the half, Swain took another nine-point scoring lead and although Robbinsville scored two more points than the Devils in the final quarter, there was no way to come back against Swain, who won by 14 points.
Then, on Friday night, tensions were boiling as Swain alum Matthew Maennle led the Andrews Wildcats as coach against his alma mater.
Between a few scuffles with the referees, injured players, and loss of steam, the Devils put a 71-51 beating on the Wildcats.
In the first quarter, the Devils led the scoring by 13, while the Wildcats had 8. In the second quarter, Swain scored 18 points, answered by Andrews 17, going into the half with 31-25.
The Maroon Devils kicked into high gear in the third quarter, but Andrews continued to put up a fight with 26 points for Swain and 15 for Andrews. In the fourth and final quarter Swain scored 14 points to Andrews 11 points, ending the game with a 20-point win for Swain.
Highest scoring players for the Andrews game were Isaiah Collins with 20, Carter Kirkland with 16, Donnavin Groenewold with 16, and Cooper Hyatt with 10 points.
The Maroon Devils took on the Hayesville Yellow Jackets at Hayesville on Tuesday (after press) and will host the Maroon Devil Christmas Classic next week at home on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, gearing up for the New Year.