Cleveland had four double-figure scorers Friday night, helping the Blue Raiders defeat Meigs County 78-69 in the final game of the Cleveland Holiday Tournament at Raider Arena.
In the last girls’ contest, Meigs County slipped past Cleveland 71-69 behind a balanced scoring attack that was enough to overcome another sterling 27-point effort by the Lady Blue Raiders’ Sofia Stamatiadis.
Friday’s games closed a three-day tournament that has great potential for becoming the area’s top holiday tournament, mixing local teams with outstanding teams from other parts of the state. It’s a strong possibility that teams from outside Tennessee could begin participating in 2017.
That concept is appealing, similar to what Hamilton Heights and East Hamilton used several years ago in bringing some of the Southeast’s top high school teams to East Hamilton for January tournaments, to fans hoping to see talented players from other areas perform.
The Meigs boys, playing their second game of the day and fourth in the tournament, resorted to their favorite weapon to battle the up-tempo Blue Raiders.
The Tigers, who don’t mind playing a fast-paced game, knocked down 10 3-pointers – four by Clint Oliver in his game-high 20-point effort – to hang with Cleveland, which rebounded from a tough 66-64 loss to Clarksville Northeast on Thursday.
In something of a track meet on the hardwood, the Blue Raiders hit eight 3s, four by Deontae Davis with all coming in the first half when the score was tied 44-44 at the break.
KK Curry and Davis each had 12 points in the first 16 minutes of play and finished with 18 and 14, respectively.
Diontae Ware added 15 points and Mullek Bradford tossed in 12 for Cleveland (14-2). Norance scored nine points on three 3s.
For the Tigers (10-6), playing without star guard Zy Moore the entire tournament, had four other players join Oliver in double-figure scoring. Brantley Baker and Cam Harris each tallied 13 points and Baker made three 3s. Wriley Smith scored 12 points and Jesse Rayl added 11.
The Lady Tigers roared out to a 50-37 halftime lead on the strength of Kaylie Moore scoring 12 points and Jade Meadows adding all of her nine in the first two quarters. Moore tallied 10 points in the second period and finished with a team-high 18.
Cassidy Kenny contributed 11 points and Alyson Crowder and Krista Crager each scored 10 points for Meigs County (11-3).
The Lady Blue Raiders rode the scoring of Sofia Stamatiadis all night long and that was almost enough for a victory. The senior guard included four 3-pointers in her 27-point performance.
It was Stamatiadis’ buzzer-beating 3 from the right wing – her third of the game – with 0.7 seconds left that gave Cleveland a 49-46 victory over Unicoi County on Thursday. She scored 18 points in that game.
Stamatiadis put up 16 points in the second half against Meigs, 10 in the fourth period. Bailey Anderson tossed in 18 points with nine in Cleveland’s 23-point second quarter.
LINESCORES
Boys Game
Meigs County 19 25 13 12 – 69
Cleveland 26 18 16 18 -- 78
Meigs County (69) – Wriley Smith 12, Brantley Baker 13, Jesse Rayl 11, Simmons, Clint Oliver 20.
Cleveland (78) – Wykle 3, Berry 9, Mullek Bradford 12, KK Curry 18, Wood 3, Diontae Ware 15, Patterson, Deontae Davis 14, K. Ware, Cobb 4.
3-Point Goals – Meigs County 10 (Oliver 4, Baker 3, Smith 2, Rayl 1), Cleveland 8 (Davis 4, Berry 3, Wykle 1).
Girls Game
Meigs County 23 27 12 9 – 71
Cleveland 14 23 13 19 -- 69
Meigs County (71) – Boggess 6, Kaylie Moore 18, Cassidy Kenny 11, Alyson Crowder 10, Meadows 9, Dankworth, Krista Crager 10, Bales.
Cleveland (69) – Reed 4, Colbaugh 2, Franklin 5, Lee, Sofia Stamatiadis 27, Flowers 7, Rowe 6, Bailey Anderson 18.
3-Point Goals – Meigs County 9 (Boggess 2, Kenny 2, Moore 1, Crowder 1, Meadows 1, Dankworth 1, Crager 1), Cleveland 5 (Stamatiadis 4, Franklin 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)