Cloudland and Hampton Middle clash in hoops action
Published 3:49 am Sunday, December 8, 2019
Star Photo/Danny Blevins Saharra Mckinney drives past a Hampton player.
Star Photo/Danny Blevins Chance Point works the basketball toward the paint for Hampton.
Star Photo/Danny Blevins Izabella Christman (32) looks to lay the ball in for a goal.
Star Photo/Danny Blevins Dylan Trivett works the basketball against a Cloudland defender.
Star Photo/Danny Blevins Ryan Turbyfill (#23) gets a good look at the goal on her way to scoring her game-high 15 points.
BY DANNY BLEVINS
STAR CORRESPONDENT
Cloudland Middle girls stay undefeated with victory over Hampton Middle, 43-19
They say offense wins games but defense wins championships. But what if a team dominates their opponents on both offense and defense every time they step on the court? You call them the Cloudland Junior Lady Landers.
Cloudland’s Middle School girls defeated the Hampton Middle School girls 43-19 in a game that was not as close as the score would suggest. Cloudland took the lead early and never looked back.
Cloudland’s offense jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter thanks to the play of Izabella Christman, Ryan Turbyfill and Saharra Mckinney who had four points, three points, and three points respectively.
Hampton, like every Cloudland opponent this year, could not figure out how to break through Cloudland’s tenacious defense. Hampton’s lone hope during the first quarter was a goal hit by Taylor Berry.
Otherwise, Hampton could do little except watch as each turnover and missed shot became points for Cloudland.
The second quarter was more of the same as Cloudland stretched their lead to 18 points by their “run and gun” offense. Hampton went into the half with the score 22-4 and with many offensive problems to solve.
Hampton may have made some adjustments during the half, but you could not tell it by the score. Hampton was able to score six points during the quarter, but the bad news was Cloudland stretched their lead to 21. When the buzzer ended the quarter, the scoreboard read 31-10.
The benches cleared during the fourth quarter as each coach gave some of their younger players a chance to play. In the end, the result was a dominating win for Cloudland to help them stay undefeated.
Turbyfill led Cloudland in scoring with 15 points. Mckinney chipped in with 11 and Christman had eight points for the night.
Hampton was led in scoring by Taylor Berry and Macy Henry who had four points each and Gracie Ballard who had three.
Hampton Middle humble Cloudland Middle, 45-10
Most coaches would be down on themselves and their team after falling 45-10 to an opponent, but not Cloudland Middle School boys’ Coach Patrick Johnson. Coach Johnson was pleased that Hampton had not beat his team worse.
“I am really pleased with how we played,” stated Johnson. “We really hustled, and we can take a lot from this game. After all, it’s Hampton. They are simply on another level than most other schools”.
Coach Johnson did have one thing right in his statement. The Hampton boys play the game on another level. They proved that once again on Thursday night as they beat the Highlanders by 35 points.
If you blinked after the first quarter started, you missed 10 of Hampton’s points. Hampton used a smothering defense and a fast break offense to light up the scoreboard. By the end of the first, Hampton had a 14-2 lead, and they were just getting started.
The second quarter sealed the game for Hampton as they continued being a scoring machine. By halftime, the score was 31-4 and Hampton went into their locker knowing they were playing as perfect as they could.
Hampton stretched their lead to 34 during the third quarter and most of their starters headed to the bench knowing they were finished for the night. In the end, the Jr. Bulldogs had showed again why they are one of the best middle school programs in the state.
Hampton was led in scoring for the night by Geno Carrico with nine points. Hayden Campbell put in eight points and Chandler Smith had seven points. In total nine different Hampton players got in the scoring column during the game.
Cloudland was led in scoring by Eli Morgan and Dylan McClellan who had four points each. Landon Hughes also had two points in Cloudland’s losing effort.
