Hampton sweeps past Unicoi County
Published 11:25 am Monday, December 9, 2024
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Lady Bulldogs’ Faye Carrico (25) works her way around Unicoi’s Kaley Toney (11) in the lane for two early in the third quarter.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Lady Bulldogs’ Piper Helle (2) steals the ball near midcourt and rushes to the basket for an easy layup late in the third quarter.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent Up by 20 late in the third quarter, the Lady Bulldogs’ Ella Estep (11) slices across the lane for a short jumper.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Lady Bulldogs’ Ella Estep (11) splits a pair of Unicoi defenders and hits a layup midway through the fourth quarter.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent After driving the baseline, the Lady Bulldogs’ Hannah Smith (20) fires a pass to Piper Helle (2), who lofts a three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent Up by almost 30 with three minutes left in the game, Lady Bulldogs head coach DeWayne Humphrey pulls his starters and empties the bench for the remainder of the game.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Lady Bulldogs’ Allie Burchfield (13) hits a runner in the lane late in the fourth quarter.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Bulldogs began to run away with the game against Unicoi County in the second quarter, opening a 24-point lead on this Tuff Robinson (32) runner in the lane with 2:50 left until halftime Friday night at Hampton Elementary.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Bulldogs’ Caden Davis (5) grabs a rebound and goes coast to coast for a layup to get the scoring started early in the first quarter Friday night.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent A head fake by the Bulldogs’ Tuff Robinson (32) gets Unicoi defender Koda Cutlip (1) in the air, and he draws the foul as he hits the jumper under the basket early in the first quarter Friday night.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Bulldogs’ Bryce Fagan (23) hits a short pull-up jumper over Unicoi’s Carter Simmons (4) midway through the first quarter Friday night at Hampton Elementary.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Bulldogs’ Tuff Robinson (32) sinks a buzzer-beating runner over Unicoi’s Kaden Cutlip (0) with four seconds left in the first quarter Friday night at Hampton Elementary.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Bulldogs’ Tuff Robinson (32) soars down the lane for a near-dunk layup early in the second quarter Friday night at Hampton Elementary.
Larry N. Souders/Star Correspondent The Bulldogs’ Jayden Nave (12) hits a fallaway put-back jumper off a missed shot late in the second quarter Friday night at Hampton Elementary.
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
Hampton’s high-powered offense was on full display Friday night at Hampton Elementary as the Bulldogs took a 75-53 victory over Unicoi County in boys’ basketball action. On the girls’ side, the Lady Bulldogs overcame an early Lady Blue Devils lead to secure a 64-40 win.
A three-pointer by Ella Estep at the 3:13 mark of the second quarter gave Hampton a 20-18 lead, and the Lady Bulldogs never trailed afterward.
“They forced us to play a little bit faster than we wanted to in the first quarter,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Dewayne Humphrey said. “They got us a little off balance, but we settled down and finished strong. Unicoi County is going to put a lot of pressure on their opponents. They are a good team that is well-coached.”
The Lady Blue Devils opened with a 15-9 first-period advantage, with Haley Rush tossing in a pair of treys and Brooklyn Sparks adding another. After Estep’s trey, the Lady ‘Dogs went on to take a 28-21 halftime lead.
From there, Hampton (7-2 overall) outscored Unicoi 24-9 in the third period, with Estep, Piper Helle, and Faye Carrico each scoring four points in the period to take a 52-30 lead into the final quarter.
Helle finished with a game-high 13 points, with Hannah Smith and Carrico each adding 12 points. Estep and Allie Burchfield each scored nine points for the Lady ‘Dogs.
Sparks topped the Unicoi scoring chart with 10 points, and Rush added nine.
Boys: Hampton 75, Unicoi County 53
Strong defensive pressure forced the Blue Devils into poor shooting in the first half. Unicoi County hit just 6-for-19 (31.5%) in the first half, while Hampton shot well, building a 46-17 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs shot 16-for-22 (72.7%) from the floor in building that lead. The Blue Devils played much better in the second half but could not overcome the ‘Dogs’ big lead.
“The first three or four minutes of the game were big for us,” Bulldogs head coach Ned Smith said. “The kids played super defense, and that put (Unicoi) behind the eight ball. Jaden Nave was big on the boards with 10 rebounds.”
Chase Davenport led all scorers with 19 points, with Tuff Robinson adding 15 points and Bryce Fagan contributing 14. Caden Davis and Jaden Nave each had nine points for the ‘Dogs, and Tyler Blevins chipped in eight.
For Unicoi County, Koda Cutlip scored a team-high 16 points, with Kaden Cutlip adding 15 points on five treys.
Girls: Hampton 64, Unicoi County 40
Unicoi Co. (40)
Rogers 1, Farnor 2, Rush 9, Vidrio 6, Anders 6, Sparks 10, Shelton 2, Baxter 4
Hampton (64)
Helle 13, Estep 9, Hicks 7, Smith 12, Carrico 12, Burchfield 9, Jenkins 2
Unicoi Co. 15 6 9 10 – 40
Hampton 9 19 24 12 – 64
Three-point goals: UC 6 (Rush 3, Vidrio 1, Sparks 2), H 6 (Smith 4, Hicks 1, Estep 1)
Boys: Hampton 75, Unicoi County 53
Unicoi Co. (53)
Ka. Cutlip 15, Ko. Cutlip 16, C. Simmons 3, J. Simmons 11, Rodriguez 5, Murr 3
Hampton (75)
Blevins 8, Nave 9, Robinson 15, Davenport 19, Davis 9, Tolley 2, Fagan 14, Turbyfill 1
Unicoi Co. 8 9 11 25 – 53
Hampton 20 26 13 16 – 75
Three-point goals: UC 9 (Ka. Cutlip 5, C. Simmons 1, J. Simmons 2, Murr 1), H 5 (Davenport 4, Blevins 1)
