CLEVELAND, Tenn. - After starting the District 5-AAA part of the season with six straight home dates, the East Hamilton basketball teams were not able to handle the road pressure Tuesday night at Cleveland High's Raider Arena.
Cleveland sophomore Joy Douglass sank a pair of winning free throws in the final seconds of the 48-46 girls' game, and junior point guard JaCobi Wood later left Hurricanes boys' defenders mind-boggled.
Wood scored 31 points with relative ease as the Blue Raiders cruised to their ninth straight victory, 60-40, in a battle of state-ranked teams.
A full month has now passed since No. 9 Cleveland (17-4, 5-2) last lost. That was against Oak Ridge to end a dreadful road trip in Knoxville that resulted in several suspensions and a player dismissal.
"One of our mottos we have adopted is 'Just Us,'" Cleveland coach Jason McCowan said. "Just go play. What do we have to lose? Our guys have responded to a tough situation and are playing with a great understanding of their roles and a chip on their shoulder. Hopefully that chip is a little bit bigger come tournament time and we play even harder."
Taking full control of the offense, senior Isaiah Johnson and Wood combined to score 35 of the Blue Raiders' first 41 points to build a 16-point lead late in the third quarter.
No. 6 East Hamilton (14-4, 6-1) had a tough time staying in front of the crafty and high-motor guards, who attacked the basket with authority.
By the time Cleveland sophomore Grant Hurst buried two 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter, the outcome was all but locked up by the home sideline with a 47-29 lead.
Johnson scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, while once again providing top-level defense against a Hurricanes bunch who did not score more than 11 points in a single quarter. The senior shooting guard came in averaging 21 points over his past six games.
"I think Isaiah is one of the best defenders in the state, and when he and JaCobi raise their level like they have been doing, we are really hard to handle," McCowan said. "We aren't tall at all, so we want to make everything a little tougher on our opponents. We play quick, hard and with a grit about us. It's a fun group."
After Hurst and fellow sophomore Kley McGowan stole the show with 62 combined points in a 102-30 dismantling of McMinn County at home last Friday, the two talented foes combined to just hit the century mark.
East Hamilton could not back up a 63-49 victory over Cleveland back on Nov. 30 as the offensive rhythm was off for the second game in a row.
After sneaking past Ooltewah last Friday in their last home district contest of the season, the Hurricanes did not have a scorer in double figures Tuesday.
"We knew the second half (of the district season) would be challenging," East Hamilton coach Frank Jones said. "We are going to have to get used to being away from home now. It's a different world.
"Our guys as a whole have to get used to the road pressure and find ways to handle it. We will be OK. We ran into a good basketball team playing with a strong rhythm tonight."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.