The Bulldogs laid dormant for the first three quarters before coming alive in the fourth to speed out to a 71-47 WVC win over the University High Buccaneers inside Brooks Gym.

Coming into the final period, the Bulldogs held a small lead, 41-38. The Bulldogs quickly got things going in the final frame as they conducted a 20-2 drive to jump ahead 61-40. Hampton would outscore the Bucs 30-9 in the final period.

“We just seemed kind of out of sync for most of the game,” Hampton coach Ned Smith said. “University High has really improved and they played really well. They knocked down some big shots.”

In the fourth quarter, Hampton’s Charlie Butler, who had 11 points for the game, knocked down nine points, six of which came from two three pointers.

“Charlie had two big threes for us there in the fourth,” Smith said. “He came off the bench and played real well. I thought our bench came in and gave us some good minutes. They gave us some rest.”

Senior Coby Jones led the Bulldogs with 15 points on the night.

In the first period, the teams went back and forth, before Hampton came out ahead 19-13 heading into the second. Jones posted seven points in the first frame.

The second quarter saw UH, who was down 28-21, rally 9-straight points to climb within one point, sending the teams to the locker room with Hampton holding a 31-30 edge.

In the third period, UH’s scoring began to stagnate as they only posted eight points. The Bulldogs didn’t fare much better, only recording 10 points during the quarter.

UH was led in scoring by David Gantz, who had a game-high 17 points.

With the win, the Bulldogs advanced their WVC record to 9-1.

Tonight, Hampton will travel to Chuckey-Doak before hosting Grainger on Saturday. The Bulldogs will also travel to Unicoi on Monday.

Next week, Hampton will head into the districts seeded in first place.

“We have three tough games ahead of us,” Smith said. “Two of them are on the road. We want it to prepare us for the district tournament coming up.”

Hampton 71, University High 47

Hampton (71)

Jones 15, Butler 11, Crumley 9, Andrews 8, Norris 7, Lyons 7, McClain 6, Velasquez 5, Holtsclaw 3.

Univeristy High (47)

Gantz 17, Hamilton 11, Harless 7, Merriman 4, Ongtengco 3, Vargo 3, Werder 2.

Hampton 19 12 10 30 — 71

University 13 17 8 9 — 47

3pt goals — Hampton 5 (Butler 2, Norris 1, Jones 1, McClain1) UH 5 (Hamilton 3, Harless 1, Gantz 1).