Looking for their fifth straight win Hampton used it’s usual stifling defense and quality depth to hold off Cloudland 87-55 in Watauga Valley Conference action on Tuesday evening at Van Huss / White gym.

Junior guard Adam McClain scored 12 first half points to lead Hampton to a 37-22 halftime advantage with sophomore Dakota Crumley adding eight. In the third period senior guard Coby Jones scored 16 points as Hampton (14-6, 6-1 WVC) extended to a 64-36 lead after three quarters were in the books. Jones ended his night with 18 which was a game high.

“Coby gave us a big spark in the third period,” said Bulldogs head coach Ned Smith. “I thought the kids shared the ball real well and our defense turned to offense. We got in a little foul trouble, but we had some players come off the bench and play well.”

The fourth quarter was extended garbage time as both teams emptied their benches and youngster Jared Andrews scored 10 points in the final period. Hampton had five players in double figures with McClain scoring 12, Jones 18, Chris Holtsclaw 11, Andrews 10 and Dakota Crumley had 11 as well.

For Cloudland (12-10, 4-3 WVC) senior guard Colby Birchfield had 14 points and Preston Benfield tallied 13.

GIRLS

Hampton 46, Cloudland 39

Sophomore guard Shyanne Tuelle scored 14 of her team’s 17 first half points in helping Hampton (12-8, 4-3 WVC) to a 42-39 victory over Cloudland. Tuelle hit seven-of-14 first half shots wile the rest of the Lady Bulldogs shot just one-for-13 as freshman Stephanie Campbell connected on a three-ball just before the halftime buzzer.

Tuelle finished with a game high 21 points and coach Bud Hazelwood said of her performance, “Shy is a rare athlete in that she can jump over people. She can be closely guarded and still get her shot off over the defender.”

Cloudland (11-10, 4-3 WVC) shot better – five-for-12 – but had 11 first half turnovers that enabled the Bulldogs to score 12 points off those miscues.

Junior forward Alexus Grubbs took command in the third period with eight points as Hampton took a 24-20 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the period. Grubbs finished with 20 points for the Lady Bulldogs as she and Tuelle scored 41 of Hampton’s total.

A trey from Erin Julian cut the deficit to just one, but Hampton answered with a fast break deuce from Tuelle to make it a 28-25 contest at the 1:59 mark.

Tuelle grabbed a rebound of a Grubbs missed three point try and scored to give the ‘Dogs a 32-26 lead going into the final stanza. Freshman Megan Lunsford hit a deuce for Cloudland to open the fourth quarter but Tuelle answered at the other end.

Shian Strickland hit a bucket and Tuelle hit one-of-two from the line to stake Hampton to a 35-30 advantage. Strickland hit both ends of her one-and-one but Grubbs got a deuce for the ‘Dogs before Strickland dropped one in from distance to cut the deficit to 37-35 with 1:40 left in regulation.

At this point Hampton took possession and played ‘stall ball’ while the Lady ‘Landers allowed precious seconds to tick off the clock before fouling Bree Hoyle who missed he free throw attempt.

“We were fine at that point,” stated Lady Highlanders head coach Lucas Andrews. “We got the foul and she missed. Then we had a chance to go down there and tie.”

Peyton Johnson had a chance to tie the game but she also missed the front end of her one-and-one opportunity leading to Grubbs hitting two from the line with under a minute remaining.

“We weren’t getting anything on offense so we decided to hold it,” Hazelwood said. “The next foul was one-and-one, and we hoped to salt it away that way. We went down and got a stop and they did the same thing and got the foul. It was a tough game, we had a walk through today but hadn’t had a full practice.”

Grubbs hit one-of-two after receiving an intentional foul from Trinity Vines to make it a 40-35 game with 26.3 ticks of the clock left. Down the stretch Grubbs hit nine-of-10 from the line to secure the victory.

GIRLS

Hampton 46-39

Cloudland (39)

Strickland 15, Johnson 6, Julian 11, Ellis 1, Lunsford 2, Vines 3.

Hampton (46)

Tuelle 21, Grubbs 20, Campbell 3, Garland 2.

Cloudland 6 8 12 13 – 39

Hampton 6 11 15 14 – 46

3-point goals : C 4-8 (Strickland 2-5, Julian 2-2, Lunsford 0-1), H 1-16 (Tuelle 0-3, Bridgeman 0- 3, Grubbs 1-7, Hill 0-3).

BOYS

Hampton 87-55

Cloudland (55)

Arnett 5, Birchfield 14, Blair 5, P. Benfield 13, Wagoner 6, Je. Potter 6, Ja. Potter 2, Trivette 2, Mull 2.

Hampton (87)

Holtsclaw 11, McClain 12, Jones 18, Norris 9, Andrews 10, Velazquez 8, Butler 4, Crumley 11, Timmons 4.

Cloudland 12 10 14 19 – 55

Hampton 17 20 27 23 – 87

3-point goals : C 3-9 (Birchfield 0-2, Blair 1-1, P. Benfield 0-1, Je. Potter 2-3, Trivette 0-1, Mull 0-1) H 2-13 (Holtsclaw 0-4, McClain 0-2, Jones 2-2, Norris 0-2, Velazquez 0-1, Butler 0-2)