Lady Devils end season with overtime loss

The Unicoi County Lady Devil junior varsity (16-6) fell to Cloudland on Monday, Feb. 13, to wrap up the 2011-2012 season for coach Keeli Parkey’s ball club.

Cloudland jumped out to an early 12-2 lead, but the Lady Devils kept fighting and clawed their way back in the game. Cloudland held a 19-13 lead at halftime. “We got off to a terrible start against Cloudland,” Parkey said. “But to the girls’ credit they kept fighting and playing hard; they refused to give up.” Cloudland regained control of the game in the third quarter and held a 27-19 lead at the
end of the third quarter. Again, the Lady Devils wouldn’t quit. “At the end of the third quarter I told them they had eight minutes left in their season,” Parkey said. “They came out and gave a great effort in the
fourth quarter. I am very proud of how they battled.” Battled they did. The Lady Devils took their first lead of the game in the fourth, but could not hold on as Cloudland rallied to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The Lady Highlanders took an early lead in overtime and held on for the 44-39 victory. The Lady Devils were led by Chelsey Harness’ 13-point effort. Whitley True tossed in nine points, Haley Webb
scored seven, Destinie Hayes scored six and Emily Lynch scored three. Hayes also had 20 rebounds. “Of course we were disappointed in the loss,” Parkey said. “But, I was very proud of the team’s effort. It says a lot about them that they refused to quit after falling behind.” Their willingness to compete from start to finish is one of many qualities that made this junior varsity team special,
Parkey said. Twelve freshmen and one sophomore made up the squad. Ten of the team’s 16 wins came during an impressive ten-game winning streak which began at the end of 2011. “Things really went our way during that stretch,” Parkey said. Making up the Lady Devil junior varsity squad this year were Hannah Keasling, Cassie Foster, Taylor Smith, Hannah Harris, Whitley True, Haley
Webb, Victoria Bailey, Chelsey Harness, Brittnie Rice, Tiffany Laughren, Morgan Lee Brown, Emily Lynch and Destinie Hayes.

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