Jr. Lady Highlanders, Little Milligan win Area 1 title
Published 12:23 am Wednesday, January 26, 2022
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Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
McKenzie McClain tries to make a difficult shot for Hampton against a tough Cloudland defense.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Reagan Blair was hard to contain Tuesday night as the Lady Highlanders and Lady Bulldogs met in the championship game Tuesday night. She would lead Cloudland with 14 overall points.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Hannah Smith led the Lady Bulldogs with 20 points as she hits a crucial 3 pointer with 15 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Cloudland and Hampton went into overtime Tuesday night at the TMSSA finals.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Little Milligan's Chase Davenport goes up to block a shot from Cole Stevenson in the TMSSA championship game Tuesday night.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Buff's Austin Hartner and the rest of the team poured on the defense in the second half as Hartner goes up against the wily Dallas Oliver Tuesday night.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
After a slow start, Little Milligan's Tuff Robinson was back to his usaul self and instrumental in bringing the team bakck from the brink. He would go on to take all around MVP honors. Perhaps the Buffs should consider changing their name to the Tuffs!
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
The Little Milligan Buffaloes celebrate as they clinch the TMSSA championship against U-H Tuesday night along with a feisty crowd at Hampton HS.
BY AUSTIN ALEXANDER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
HAMPTON – Hampton High School played host to the Area 1 championships on Tuesday night as the girl’s game featured Cloudland and Hampton while the boy’s match-up pitted University School against Little Milligan.
Both contests lived up to the championship billing with incredibly close games. At the end of the night, the Little Milligan Buffaloes and the Cloudland Lady Highlanders walked away champions.
In the girl’s game, both teams struggled early finding points with a 6-4 scoreline after the first quarter with All-Area selection Abby Clawson scoring four points for the Highlanders to help her team start with a lead that they never lost throughout the game.
In the second quarter, the Lady Landers continued to narrowly lead the Lady Bulldogs. With the scoring woes continuing into the second, Cloudland just led 12-8 at the half.
Coming out of the break, the offenses stayed at a snail’s pace. Emily Forbes two free throws in the quarter were among the lone points scored as the game headed to the fourth at 18-13.
The action suddenly changed drastically in the fourth, specifically for the Bulldogs as all-tournament and conference selection Hannah Smith scored 10 of her game-high 18 points to almost single-handedly keep Hampton in it. McKenzie McClain also chipped in three of her five points and the game was tied at the end of regulation.
In overtime, all-tournament and conference selection Eowyn McCoury would dominate scoring six of her nine points and giving the Highlanders the push over the line they needed as they would go on to win, 37-32.
The boy’s game also started somewhat sluggish with the score locked at 4-3 after the first quarter with neither team able to as much as buy a bucket.
The second quarter saw Bryce Fagan start his rather lengthy tab for the night as the all-conference, regular-season, and tournament standout scored six of his game-high 22 in the quarter.
Not to be outdone, Knox Poston for the Jr. Bucs had eight in the frame to give University the 18-12 advantage at halftime.
The scoring would erupt in half two with Dallas Oliver bagging six of his 16 and Cole Stevenson adding another four as the Bucs tried to run away from the Buffaloes.
However, Fagan and the Buffaloes had other plans as someone finally woke up tournament and regular-season MVP Tuff Robinson and he dropped off six of his 12 points and the Bucs narrowly led heading to frame four.
The final quarter came down to grit and determination with both teams pouring their hearts out, but the difference for Little Milligan was their perennial big three dominating the fourth as they had all season with Fagan, Robinson, and Chase Davenport combining for 17 points in the quarter to complete the comeback win, 48-42.
