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STAR CORRESPONDENT

ERWIN – A lightning-fast start by Chuckey-Doak enabled the Black Knights to hold off a late charge by Hampton to upend the Bulldogs 57-52 at Unicoi County High School on Saturday evening in the District 1-AA semifinal.

The Bulldogs (21-9) will take on Johnson County on Tuesday for third place and a road region playoff game. Forward Braden McCamey gave the Knights a huge lift in the first quarter, hitting four treys – scoring a team-high 18 points – with 12 coming in the first half.

Chuckey-Doak (16-9) opened with a 21-13 lead and advanced to a 32-29 halftime lead, with Tuff Robinson and Chase Davenport each scoring 11 first-half points. Robinson finished with a game-high 21 points as the Knights concentrated their defensive effort on denying Davenport the ball, and he scored just three second-half points.

“We have a couple of kids out, and I thought the guys who don’t get many minutes played hard,” Bulldogs head coach Ned Smith said. “They battled to the end, and we did the best we could with what we had. They guarded Davenport tight and denied him the ball.”

The third period was played evenly, and the teams went into the fourth quarter with C-D leading 47-44. Robinson opened the fourth period with a deuce, which was answered by post Aiden Lamons, but after a bucket from senior Jayden Nave, the ‘Dogs closed it to a one-point game at 51-50 with 4:22 left in regulation.

Connor Campbell struck for a bucket for C-D as part of his team-high 18 points, along with McCamey, as C-D opened a 53-51 lead. A pair of free throws from Campbell made it 55-51, giving the Knights a little breathing room.

Davenport was 1-for-2 from the free-throw line, but McCamey hit both ends of his one-and-one to close out the scoring as a Davenport trey was left wanting.

Lamons added 13 points for C-D, while Ezra Tolley scored five points for the ‘Dogs.

District 1-AA Boys Playoff

Chuckey-Doak 57, Hampton 52

Chuckey-Doak (57)
Campbell 18, Williams 4, Lamons 13, McCamey 18, Shelton 4.

Hampton (52)
Smith 4, Nave 4, Robinson 21, Davenport 14, Tolley 5, Turbyfill 4.

Chuckey-Doak 21 11 15 10 – 57
Hampton 13 16 15 8 – 52

3-point goals: C-D 6 (McCamey 4, Campbell 2), H 1 (Tolley 1).