BLUFF CITY – Being able to rebound after a tough loss is an important asset and Hampton had that covered on Friday afternoon at Patriot Palace.

Alexus Grubbs scored a game high 25 points as the Lady Bulldogs defeated Unicoi County 58-32 after suffering a heartbreaking 59-54 loss to Tennessee High on Thursday.

“Our defense really stepped up today, and that’s what we have to do,” Grubbs said. “Shyanne played great defense. She moved her feet and she gets after it on defense.”

The Lady ‘Dogs brought the defense on Friday, forcing the Lady Blue Devils into 15 turnovers, with Shyanne Tuelle collecting five steals. She converted all but one into two points and scored 20 to back Grubbs’ effort.

“She played better,” Lady ‘Dogs head coach Buddy Hazelwood said. “We had a little heart to heart with a few of the girls and they responded,” he added. “She made a lot better decisions and as a team we played better defense than we had the last couple of nights.”

The ‘Dogs (3-2 overall) never trailed in this one, leading 15-10 after the first quarter and 29-16 at the half.

Hampton held UC to eight-for-25 (32 percent) from three point range and out rebounded the Devils 24-16 in the contest.

The Devils cut into the Hampton lead in the third period with both Kennedy King and Hannah Rice connecting on three-pointers to make it a 35-26 game going into the final stanza.

A nine-point Hampton run to open the fourth quarter gave the Lady ‘Dogs a 45-26 advantage before King dropped in another three-ball for Unicoi. In the run, Grubbs knocked in two three’s and a deuce, while Tuelle added a free throw.

“Tonight we got to run a little bit, press a little bit and that was good for us,” Hazelwood said. “Alexus had 16 points against Tennessee High, but didn’t have a particularly good game. But tonight she drove to the basket and we had a little talk with her too. I told her that teams are going to guard her, because she’s a good player. She just has to learn how to deal with it.”

After King’s three, Grubbs took over with a deuce, a pair of free throws, and after a two-pointer from Tuelle, she made a three-point play to give Hampton a 56-29 lead with 3:42 remaining in regulation.

“The effort tonight was much better,” Hazelwood commented. “It’s a learning experience when you’re a young team. Unicoi made a little run at us in the third quarter. We have to do a better job of guarding the corner three.”

For Unicoi County, Ashley Edwards had a team high 13 points while Rice added nine.

The Lady ‘Dogs connected on five-of-eight (62.5 percent) from distance with Grubbs and Hope Bridgeman each hitting a pair.

Hampton takes on Sullivan East or Daniel Boone today at 3:30 p.m. at Patriot Palace.

Girls Basketball

Hampton 58-32

Unicoi County (32)

Griffith 4, Edwards 13, King 9, Rice 6.

Hampton (58)

Tuelle 20, Grubbs 25, Hill 4, Bridgeman 6, Garland 3.

Hampton 15 14 6 23 – 58

Unicoi Co. 10 6 10 6 – 32

3-point goals: UC 8-25 (Edwards 3-8, Padgett 0-1, King 3-5, Rice 2-7, Hendrickson 0-3, Powers 0-1). H 5-8 (Tuelle 1-2, Grubbs 2-3, Bridgeman 2-3)