Sizzlin' the string on 13-of-23 (56.5%) long range shots, sixth ranked Cleveland turned a close game into a runaway over Hamilton Heights in the final frame, Tuesday evening in Raider Arena.
Behind a career-high 30 points, including a half dozen 3-pointers, from freshman Ariyah Huffman, the Lady Raiders rolled to a 69-53 tally for their fifth double-digit win in a row.
Cleveland (16-4) will return to District 5-4A play with a rematch of Monday's win over Walker Valley Friday evening, before traveling to third-ranked Bearden (203) Tuesday.
Cleveland will also travel to McMinn County for a District 5-4A battle Friday, Feb.
7, and go across town to battle two-time defending state champion Bradley Central (21-1), which is sixth-ranked nationally, on Saturday, Feb. 8.
LADY RAIDERS 69, LADY HAWKS 53: After Hamilton Heights (5-9) opened with the first three points of the contest, Cleveland evened the score on the first its baker's dozen 3-pointers coming from senior Emma Smith, sparking a 10-0 run by the hosts.
Despite three more Cleveland triples in the opening frame, the Lady Hawks fought back to close the gap to just two points with 65 seconds left in the opening period. Huffman nailed the second shot from "downtown" to push the difference to 18-13 at the first horn.
Hamilton Heights dropped in the first five points of the second frame to even the score before taking the lead (26-25) briefly at the 3:26 mark.
After Coach Hensley called a timeout, Huffman drained another long-range bomb to retake the edge and a half minute later added a driving basketball to counter a couple of Lady Hawk free throws for a 30-28 advantage at the intermission.
Cleveland sophomore Laney Copeland opened the second half with 3-ball from the corner, but an old fashioned three-point play, plus a steal and fast break bucket by 6-foot-1 HH 10th-grader Bineta Deop evened the score once again.
Copeland stopped the short run with her second triple from the corner, but once again the visitors responded with back-to-back buckets from the lane for a 37-36 edge at the 5:15 mark of the third period.
The Lady Hawks' final lead lasted just 25 seconds as Huffman heated up again with a 3-pointer and back-to-back driving baskets.
She also drained another from distance a few minutes later to up the difference to double digits, before the visitors netted the final four points to trail 49-43 at the third buzzer.
After the teams evenly split the first eight points of the final frame, Cleveland pulled away with a 13-6 spurt, sealing the victory with nine straight free throws in the final two minutes.
Along with half dozen from distance, Huffman dropped in a trio of driving shots, plus went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe.
Tennessee signee Lauren Hurst continued her strong return to the court with 15 points, including 8-for-10 at the foul line, plus she cleared seven rebounds, dished off three assists and blocked a pair of shots.
Junior Illianis Rodriguez hustled to nine points, four helps and a couple of caroms, while Copeland dished out a half dozen "dimes" to go with a trio of ricochets and two thefts along with her half dozen markers.
As a team, Cleveland went 16-for-20 (80%) at the charity stripe, but made only 7-of-18 (38.9%) from two-point land.
Hamilton Heights won the battle of the boards by a 27-18 margin, but turned the ball over 16 times, compared to just nine for the hosts.
The international roster at the Chattanooga private school includes leading scorer Deop, who is from Senegal, with 18 points.
Junior Noa Woodruff, who used to play at East Hamilton, helped out with 13 points, seven boards and a pair of blocked shots.
Aïssé Coulibaly, who is from France, and Serbia's Danica Lazic both added eight points. Luisa Parra, from Columbia, cleaned the glass for 14 rebounds.
The Lady Raider "D" held Hamilton Heights to just 38.6% (20-of-52) shooting from the field and the visitors made only 8-of-14 (57.1%) free throws.
GAME SUMMARY
Tuesday, Jan. 28
at Raider Arena
Girls Game
Hamilton Heights 13 15 15 10 — 53
Cleveland 18 12 19 20 — 69
LADY HAWKS (53) — Binetou Deop 18, Noa Woodruff 13, Aïssé Coulibaly 8, Danica Lazic 8, Faye 4, Parra 2, Zuniga.
LADY RAIDERS (69) — Ariyah Huffman 30, Lauren Hurst 15, Illianis Rodriguez 9, Laney Copeland 6, Emma Smith 6, Davis 3, I. Smith, Gravelle.
3-POINTERS HH 4 (Lazic 2, Coulibay, Deop); CHS 13 (Huffman 6, Copeland 2, Rodriguez 2, Davis, E. Smith, Hurst).
FREE THROWS: HH 8-of-14; CHS 16-of-20.
RECORDS: Hamilton Heights 5-9; No. 8 (4A) Cleveland 16-4.