Cloudland Highlanders

2021-2022 Cloudland Highlanders

Spencer Nave Head Coach

Cloudland has solid nucleus for new head coach

BY IVAN SANDERS

STAR SPORTS EDITOR ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com

Spencer Nave traded in his maroon and white of Unaka during the offseason and now will be donning the Cloudland blue and gold as the new head coach of the Cloudland boys basketball team.

Nave quickly discovered that the cupboard is pretty well stocked when he stepped into the role including a team filled with players of pretty good stature.

“We have great size and you can’t teach size,” said Nave. “I think one of the big things is if you can rebound the basketball, make free throws, and defend - you are going to be in a lot of ballgames just by that. With the personnel we have, I think there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able do that.”

With 10 seniors on the roster, the Highlanders sport players such as Victor Hicks (6’5 forward), Caleb Sluder (6’2 guard), Dylan Shell (6’2 guard), Dont’e Williams (6’2 guard), Jacob Isaacs (6’3 forward), and Coy Laney (6’3 forward).

Add into the mix junior Gage McKinney (6’3 forward), junior Jacob Street (6’4 forward), and sophomore Dylan McClellan (6’3 forward), one can quickly see why Nave is excited about his first team as a head coach.

However, Nave hasn’t forgotten about the conference he has become quite familiar with.

“The league is tough,” Nave said. “I have said that for years. I have been coaching for five years and I have helped Aaron (Dugger) for the last four and I have been in this league and know that it’s a gauntlet.

“I would put it up against any conference in the area. There are no cakewalks. You have to bring your A-game every day. One thing that is going to help us is I am more a dribble-drive guy, four out and one in. Aaron and I have went up to Virginia in the past and I have learned a lot from Coach Tony Bennett doing the pack-line defense and I am going to stay with that mindset and run the dribble drive and try to get everybody involved. “I would rather have five kids averaging 10 points a game or 15 than to have two that are scoring 30 any day,” continued Nave. “With our depth we can be really good and play a lot of kids and it holds these kids accountable.”

One thing that Nave was quick to point out was the grit that his team of Highlanders have and if he can keep them in that same mindset, the sky is the limit for this group.

“I have tough kids,” said Nave. “That’s one thing I can say that I love about Roan Mountain is that you have tough kids. They are going to come and grind every day. Keeping them to stay the course and face adversity when things don’t go their way, I think that’s a big thing.

“If you can face adversity like being down in a game and not hanging your head - I think having tough kids is going to help us do that. Having them go throughout this season and just grind every single day and come to work every day, I think that is what we are going to do.”

Nave said the key to winning in the Watauga Valley Conference is doing your homework and having your team ready for anything that other teams may throw your way.

The 2021-2022 Cloudland High School basketball cheerleaders are as follows: (Front (L-R) Karah Fields, Kaiden Smith, Hannah Hart, Carter Shaw, and Libbie Tomberlin. (Middle L-R) Hailey Simerly, Katelynn Simerly, LilyAnna Johnson, Mia Clarke, Kendall Birchfield, Melena Roberson, and Katie Baldwin. (Back L-R) Faith Roark, April Stone, Tate Shaw, MacKenzie Maro, Shana Canady, and Ella Benfield.

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2021-2022 Cloudland Highlanders

# Name Height Position Grade 1 Victor Hicks 6’5 Forward Sr. 3 Caleb Sluder 6’2 Guard Sr. 4 Dylan Shell 6’2 Guard Sr. 5 Caden Clarke 6’0 Guard Jr. 10 Skyler Hamby 5’11 Guard Sr. 14 Seth Birchfield 5’10 Guard Sr. 15 Dont’e Williams 6’2 Guard Sr. 21 Gage McKinney 6’3 Forward Jr. 22 Noah Barnett 5’10 Guard Sr. 23 Jacob Isaacs 6’3 Forward Sr. 24 Eli Benfield 5’10 Guard Sr. 25 Coy Laney 6’3 Forward Sr. 32 Jacob Street 6’4 Forward Jr. 50 Dylan McClellan 6’3 Forward So.

Head Coach: Spencer Nave Assistant Coach: Travis Sommers, Travis Whitehead Stats: Zak Benfield

2021-2022 Cloudland Highlander Schedule

November 22-27 Hardee’s Classic at Crockett 30 Volunteer

December 2 at Unicoi Co. 10 at Johnson Co. 17 Twin Springs 20 Happy Valley 28-29 at Harriman

January

3 Unicoi 4 Kachea 7 North Greene* 11 at Unaka* 14 U.H.* 17 Johnson Co. 18 at Happy Valley 21 at Hampton* 24 at Twin Springs 25 at Avery

February 1 at North Greene* 4 Unaka* 8 at U.H.* 11 Hampton* 17 District Tournament TBA 25 Regional Tournament TBA

*denotes conference game