Bunn steps up in overtime as Elizabethton girls stop Vikings

ELIZABETHTON — Addison Bunn has made a habit of playing big when it matters most. The Elizabethton sophomore finished with 24 points, including 13 in overtime, to lead the Cyclones to a thrilling 87-81 Mountain Lakes Conference victory over Tennessee High on Tuesday night at John Treadway Gymnasium. A transfer from West Ridge, Bunn was one of three Cyclones to reach the 20-point mark. Rylee May led Elizabethton with 26 points, while Jamira Smalls added 23 for the Cyclones, which improved to 3-1 in District 1-3A and 12-6 overall for the season. Tennessee High (1-2, 16-8) was led by junior Addie Wilhoit with 37 points, including five early in the extra period before the Cyclones began to pull away from the Vikings. "(Wilhoit) is also a key player and she played awesome," Tennessee High head coach Amanda Vance said. "We have just got to execute a little better late in the game. Executiion late and then turnovers really got us there." Elizabethton led 39-33 at halftime in an entertaining back-and-forth game, and still led 57-51 going into the final quarter before Wilhoit connected on a trio of 3s and 13 points in the fourth period, pulling the Vikings ahead with a lead that was still Tennessee High's at 71-69 on a Jenna Latham. The Cyclones then tied it at 71 on a layup and then got the ball back with 8.9 seconds left, but the shot by Bunn missed its mark to force an extra period. "Bunn is a great player," said Vance, whose Vikings will host David Crockett on Friday. "She shows up in big moments." Bunn didn't miss much in overtime, connecting on a 3-pointer to put the Cyclones up 76-75 and then made 10 free throws to help the Cyclones escape with the win. "She has been doing that all year. She is a smart player. All good players know as you get through the conference that the people are going to play you different," Elizabethton head coach Lucas Andrews said. "They started face-guarding her a little bit and she was doing things that we needed her to do. She realized, 'I am getting fast-guarded, these other girls are starting to get open' so she did a really good job. "Rylee and Jamira were just solid the whole game. Everybody was. All seven people that we had out there did some good things for us." Tennessee High, which has lost post player Jasmine Jones to an ACL injury for the season, struggled to slow down Smalls, who made her first eight shot attempts around the rim, and rebounded her first miss and scored again for the Cyclones. "Their post player is out for an ACL so we knew we had the advantage there on the inside," said Andrews, whose Cyclones saw a six-point lead to open the fourth period disappear with the 3-point shooting from Wilhoit to put the Vikings up for the first time at 63-62 with 5:47 to play. "We could have started the fourth quarter a little better." Wilhoit, who was 10-for-11 from the free throw line and also four 3s for the Vikings, which also received 12 points from Delaney Linkous and Latham, was still within five points with 36 seconds remaining in overtime when Tennessee High drew a technical that allowed the Cyclones to extend their lead. "That is what you do when you have good players like her. You can make her work and she is still going to get them," Andrews said. "We talked about that yesterday in practice. My exact question was, 'Is she going to score. Yeah, she is going to score'. "We can't let let her have 30, but we did tonight. "I thought our kids, obviously the layup by Rylee to tie it, but the layup by Jamira right there before that one was huge." May connected on four 3s and Bunn had three for the Cyclones, which will visit West Ridge on Friday where Elizabethton will face another talented junior in Carter Jones. Andrews knew Wilhoit would be a handful for his team. "We have to do a better job with that," Andrews said. "She can get that. She is obviously a good player. She was player of the year in our league last year for a reason." NOTE: The boys game was still in progress at press time. For details, visit johnsoncitypress.com and/or timesnews.net.