Saturday evening saw the boys half of the Region1-2A tournament at Van Huss / White gymnasium and Hampton took care of its business with a 95-56 win over Hancock County.

Hampton (20-10 overall) opened with a three-ball from senior forward Jose Velazquez which was later matched by Seth Heck for Hancock. Wyatt Lyons scored three baskets and had as many free throws as the Bulldogs opened up an 18-10 first period lead.

Adam McClain opened the second period with a three-ball to give Hampton a 21-10 advantage, and Dakota Crumley added a deuce in the paint after a blocked shot from Lyons. Charlie Butler hit a long two-point shot and Josh Webb answered for the Indians, but Butler then knocked down a trey to make it a 28-12 contest at the 5:55 mark.

A Lyons bucket made it a 12-2 Hampton run before Heck hit a runner in the lane to cut the Hampton lead to 30-14 with 5:07 left in the half. The Indians (15-16 overall) went on a 6-2 run to cut the Hampton lead to 32-20 before Dru Owens dropped in a long range shot for a 35-20 lead.

“I thought we shared the ball well tonight,” Bulldogs head coach Ned Smith said. “We had 27 assists and had a lot of kick outs and we talked about that before the game and they did a good job. We had a lot more drives and kick outs and the outside shots was a confidence booster.”

Ian Kelly then hit two from the line and Owens hit a layup as the ‘Dogs built a 39-20 lead before Josh Webb hit two free throws and Hunter Holt hit a trey. The ‘Dogs offense exploded for 33 second period points and outscored Hancock County by 13 in the stanza to open a 5-30 halftime lead.

Butler opened the third period with a three-ball and Crumley followed with a deuce off an offensive rebound as Hampton now led 56-30 with over six minutes still to play in the quarter. Austin Surgenor broke a 10-0 Hampton run with a deuce that was answered by Owens and with 4:08 left in the third, the ‘Dogs led 63-34.

Hancock County began to hit some long shots in the third period with Heck connecting on three and Holt one but it wasn’t enough as Hampton scored 24 points and led 73-49 going into the fourth quarter.

The ‘Dogs kept pedal to the metal in the fourth quarter with a 13-4 run to open an enormous 86-53 advantage with 4:19 left in regulation. Lyons led five Hampton players with double figures with 23, while Butler added 18, Owens had 17, Crumley 11 and Velazquez finished with 10.

“We played better in, out ball,” Lyons said. “We are hoping to get back to state, but we have to just keep playing as a team. As long as we keep playing like this, I think we will be able to get there.”

Heck led all scorers with 25 points while Holt had 19 for the Indians.

Boys

Region 1-2A tournament

Hampton 95-56

Hancock Co. (56)

Surgenor 6, Heck 25, Mahoney 2, Webb 4, Holt 19.

Hampton (95)

McClain 4, Lyons 23, Velazquez 10, Butler 18, Crumley 11, Owens 17, Hughes 3, Kelly 8, Timmons 2, Hardin 1.

Hancock Co. 10 20 19 7 – 56

Hampton 18 33 24 22 – 95

3-point goals : HC 8 (Heck 5, Holt 3), H 11 (Butler 5, Owens 3, Hughes 1, McClain 1, Velazquez 1)