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STAR CORRESPONDENT

UNICOI – The Hampton Lady Bulldogs took the District 1AA championship on Monday night at Unicoi County High School with a 59-55 victory over Chuckey-Doak. Senior point guard Piper Helle was tournament MVP, and she scored 12 points with six rebounds and two steals.

“We were hoping and expecting to get here,” Helle said of the win. “We knew we had to stay calm. It is a game of runs, and we knew we would come back. When they made a run, we knew we had to take better care of the ball.”

Hampton (23-8) took a 17-13 first-quarter lead despite 10 points from Lady Black Knights guard Kennedy Brown. Brown scored a game-high 25 points in this contest.

Helle scored eight of her 12 points in the first half and was a floor leader in keeping her team focused, making good passes, and keeping her team moving the ball.

The Lady ‘Dogs led 31-30 at the half, and with senior guard Brea Hicks connecting on a pair of 3-pointers and junior guard Hannah Smith beginning to heat up after a slow first half, they took a 48-43 lead into the fourth quarter.

That is when things got interesting as C-D (15-13) began a comeback. Layla Fox opened the fourth quarter with a deuce that was answered by a Smith trey. The Knights went on an 8-4 run to make it a 55-53 game.

In the run, Tralyn Southerland hit two from the free-throw line, but Smith hit a pair of deuces for a 55-47 Hampton advantage.

“We didn’t come out and play in the first half,” Smith said. “We knew it would take tough defense to win, and we knew we had to go all out.”

Brown then connected on a pair of free throws and a two-point bucket, and Fox hit a runner in the paint. Smith then hit three free throws down the stretch to close it out.

District 1AA Championship

Hampton 59, Chuckey-Doak 55

Chuckey-Doak (55)
Brown 25, Fox 10, Atchison 3, Myers 2, Ta. Southerland 2, Tr. Southerland 12.

Hampton (59)
Helle 12, Eastep 11, Hicks 13, Smith 13, Carrico 6, Jenkins 4.

Chuckey-Doak 13 17 13 12 – 55
Hampton 17 14 17 11 – 59

3-point goals: CD 0, H 5 (Hicks 3, Smith 2)

All-Conference Team

Hampton: Ella Eastep, Piper Helle, Faye Carrico, Hannah Smith
West Greene: Morgan Brown, Joie Shipley, Emily Justus, Peyton Norton
Johnson County: Makenzie McClain
Chuckey-Doak: Kennedy Brown, Tralyn Southerland, Saniah Atchison, Tavyn Southerland
South Greene: Natalie Foshie, Arianna Hoese, Kortni Bailey

MVP: Morgan Brown

All-Tournament Team

Happy Valley: Cayden Anderson
South Greene: Kortni Bailey, Natalie Foshie
Chuckey-Doak: Tralyn Southerland, Kennedy Brown, Saniah Atchison
Hampton: Hannah Smith, Faye Carrico, Brea Hicks

MVP: Piper Helle