After a closely fought first half, the Rebels were able to pull away from Hampton in the second half to win 71-61 Tuesday night at South Greene High School.

Hampton (4-5, 0-1) came out rolling in the first frame, scoring 8-consecutive points, before the Rebels (5-4, 2-0) finally answered with a 9-1 run, which was the result of three treys from South Greene’s Zack Babb to tie the game at 9 with three minutes left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs out scored the Rebels 6-5 in the remainder of the first to give them a 1-point advantage heading into the second.

The two teams duked it out in the second frame. South Greene started the quarter out with three unanswered 3-pointers, which allowed them a wide enough gap to head into the half with a 34-31 edge. Hampton’s Jared Andrews closed out the first half with a 9-1 run to keep the game close at intermission.

In the third, South Greene outpaced the Bulldogs 13-7 to head into the final frame with a 47-38 lead.

Hampton started the fourth with eight unanswered points, with Bulldogs’ Jose Velasquez contributing four to the run. However, the Rebels’ Nathan Hall, who had 24 on the night, answered with 9-consective points to stake a 56-46 lead with 4:27 left in the game.

With their 10-point cushion, the Rebels were able to survive the rest of the final frame as the teams went 15 for 15. The game ended on somewhat of a positive note with Dru Owens popping a three at the buzzer to close the game.

After the game, Hampton head coach Ned Smith remained positive

“The kids went hard tonight,” he said. “They had 17 offensive rebounds and 17 steals. . . We just have to work hard and keep moving forward.”

Nathan Norris led Hampton with 13, while South’s Nathan Hall had 24 for the Rebels.

Boys

S. Greene 71-61

Hampton 15 16 7 23 — 61

S. Greene 14 20 13 24 — 71

Hampton 61

Nathan Norris 13, Charlie Butler 11, Jared Andrews 9, Adam McClain 8, Chris Holtsclaw 6, Wyatt Lyons 4, Jose Velasquez 4, Dru Owens 3, Jacob Wiltshire 2, Dakota Crumley.

S. Greene 71

Nathan Hall 24, Zack Babb 16, Ayden Shaw 12, Todd Brown 11, Sam Mease 6, Zack Turner 2.

3pt goals— Hampton 3 (Owens 1, Norris 1, Butler 1) S. Greene 8 (Babb 4, Mease 2, Hall 1, Shaw 1)