Bulldogs take charge in win over Cloudland Lady ‘Landers too much for Hampton
Published 12:04 am Tuesday, January 21, 2020
1 of 9
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Both the Lady ‘Landers and Bulldogs via for a rebound on a missed free throw in the first quarter. Cloudland’s Karah Fields (32) comes away with the ball on the play.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Highlanders Conner Birchfield pops a jumper from the foul line in the second quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The ‘Landers Bentley Gilbert (14) and Hampton’s Morgan Lyons (24) both go for an inlet pass in the second quarter. The ball sailed out of bounds and Cloudland retained possession of the ball.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
The Bulldogs Caleb Oaks (32) puts up a short jumper over the Cloudland defense.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders
Hampton’s Garrett Vines (25) gets the Bulldogs off to a great start by burying a trey to open the first quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Lady ‘Landers Gracie Freeman (23) finishes a fastbreak with a layup after stealing the ball at mid-court in the third quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Hampton’s Bridgette Heaton (11) puts up a baby hook in the paint in first quarter action,
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Bulldogs Chloe Watson (35) is fouled from behind by Cloudland’s Karah Fields (32) on a fastbreak in the second quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Lady ‘Landers Heaven Caraway (2) delivers a three pointer from in front of Cloudland’s bench in the third quarter.
BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN
STAR CORRESPONDENT
On Friday night at Van Huss-White gymnasium, Cloudland picked a bad night to have a bad night. Hampton’s defense put the clamps on the Highlanders and the Bulldogs routed Cloudland 65-38 in a Watauga Valley Conference basketball clash.
Senior guard Garrett Vines led all scorers with 10 points and Caleb Oaks was once again an enforcer in the post with three blocked shots, eight rebounds, and eight points.
“They all hustle and if I don’t get them in (the game) they bust their butts in practice,” Bulldogs head coach Ned Smith said. “Caleb is a big influence in the middle and he makes good passes and good decisions.
“Garrett shot the ball well tonight, distributed the ball and all the kids came ready to play. You have to win your home games. This is a tough conference and you have to win at home and hope to steal a few on the road.”
Hampton (14-6, 4-1 WVC) took an 18-11 first period lead but that is as close as Cloudland (12-7, 2-2) got on this night. Poor shooting and bad decisions with the ball in traffic by the ‘Landers led to turnovers that Hampton feasted on.
The Bulldogs took a 34-20 halftime lead with sophomore wing Morgan Lyons scoring seven of his nine points in the first half. Vines took over in the second half scoring seven third-quarter points as Hampton now led 50-28 going into the fourth period.
“We are all competitive and the coaches make it that way,” Vines said. “They coach us up on what we are good at and we play as a team. Coach gets on us all the time in practice on how we have to be better, make smart decisions and not be out of place and keep your hands up on defense.”
Nine players cracked the scoreboard for Hampton with Oaks, Matt Hughes, Jordan Bentley and Conor Jones each scoring eight points in a balanced score sheet.
For Cloudland, Bentley Gilbert scored eight to lead the way with Hayden Shell adding seven. Elijah Blair and Dylan Shell each had six for the ‘Landers.
—
BOYS
Hampton 65-38
Cloudland (38)
Birchfield 5, Gilbert 8, H. Blair 4, E. Blair 6, Ha. Shell 7, D. Shell 6, Julian 2.
Hampton (65)
Hughes 8, Vines 10, Oaks 8, Croy 5, Bentley 8, Jones 8, Hill 3, Lyons 9, Henry 3, Jenkins 3.
Cloudland 11 9 8 10 – 38
Hampton 18 16 16 15 – 65
3-point goals: C 4 (Gilbert 2, Ha. Shell, D. Shell). H 7 (Hughes 2, Vines 2, Jones, Croy, Jenkins).
GIRLS
Cloudland…56
Hampton…. 25
The Lady Highlanders opened with a hot shooting start knocking down six trey’s in the first quarter to open a 22-11 lead after one period was in the books.
Head coach Matt Birchfield said of his team’s hot start, “We started the game shooting the ball well and we haven’t done that lately. But tonight we were able to get a lead and turn it over to our defense.
“We got some turnovers and we got several kids into the game which is good because you have to have that depth and I am really happy with that.”
Gracie Freeman scored a game-high 19 points and was active both inside and outside. Guard Heaven Caraway added nine points including a pair of trey’s and Jasmine Birchfield scored seven.
“Big night for her,” Birchfield said. “Gracie played well got some steals, created a lot of stuff herself and got to the rack for layups. Good impact for Gracie tonight, she played well.”
Cloudland (16-2, 4-0 WVC) grabbed a 34-17 halftime lead and were never challenged.
For Hampton (5-13, 2-2), senior guard Hannah Collins had a team-high eight points before fouling out with 3:59 remaining. Post Hazen Brumitt added seven points and youngster Chloe Watson scored five after replacing Collins in the lineup.
—
GIRLS
Cloudland 56-25
Cloudland (56)
Caraway 9, K. Birchfield 6, J. Birchfield 7, Freeman 19, L. Birchfield 4, Kal. Fields 5, Kar. Fields 4, Johnson 2.
Hampton (25)
Heaton 2, Collins 8, Brumitt 7, Milhorn 3, Watson 5.
Cloudland 22 12 14 8 – 56
Hampton 11 6 4 4 – 25
3-point goals: C 8 (K. Birchfield 2, Caraway 2, J. Birchfield, Freeman, Kal. Fields, Kar. Fields)
H 1 (Milhorn)
