A tight game in the first half saw Hampton open things up in the third period to take a 63-57 non conference decision over Johnson County on Tuesday night at Van Huss / White gym.

Both teams played physically in the first half with each team reaching double bonus status and Hampton led 27-24 at the break as Charlie Butler dropped in a three-ball at the buzzer. Bud Icenhour led all first half scorers with seven points for Johnson County (1-8 overall).

“I thought our long bench helped us tonight and was the difference,” Bulldogs head coach Ned Smith said. “We got good defensive pressure and we have to make our free throws. We missed a lot of them.”

Longhorns point guard Jose Guzman left the game with a back injury in the second quarter and did not return.

“That hurt us,” Longhorns head coach Austin Atwood admitted. “Against their press he would have helped us. We had to match their intensity, Hampton plays hard. I thought our effort was raised 100 percent tonight. I can see progress and a light at the end of the tunnel that I didn’t see before.”

The Bulldogs (5-3 overall) knocked down four trey’s in the third quarter to take a 45-37 advantage going into the final stanza. Nathan Norris, Charlie Butler, Jared Andrews and Adam McClain each hit a three as the ‘Dogs got hot and took a nine point advantage.

JC closed to within 47-41 on a deuce from Cody Bailie and free throws by Brandon Vannoy but Norris hit a pair from the line and Andrews completed a three-point play to push the ‘Dogs to a 50-41 lead.

A trey from freshman Blake Atwood got the ‘Horns to within 57-53 with 1:37 left in regulation and the ‘Dogs turned it over on their next possession. JC failed to capitalize on the ‘Dogs turnover and the ‘Horns were forced to foul Butler.

Butler hit both shots but Icenhour canned a three to make it a 59-56 game with :31.4 seconds left on the game clock. Norris and Icenhour each had 15 points to lead their respective teams with Butler scoring 11.

Cody Bailie had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Johnson County while Brandon Vannoy scored nine and had 10 boards.

GIRLS

Hampton 64, Johnson Co. 45

Taking a 10 point first quarter lead, Hampton hung on from there for a 64-45 victory. The Lady Bulldogs opened with a 7-0 run in the first quarter with Kinzy Hill hitting a three-ball – the first of two she would have in the stanza – while Alexus Grubbs hit a deuce and Shyanne Tuelle collected a pair of free throws.

“Kinzy was as aggressive as I have seen her this year,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Bud Hazelwood said. “We didn’t play defense well tonight though. We played a lot of people and when you do that sometimes the cohesiveness isn’t there.”

In the second period Kelsey Duperry’s rebounding on the offensive glass kept the Lady Longhorns in the contest. Duperry scored 11 first half points to go with eight rebounds – five on the offensive boards.

“She really wanted it,” Hazelwood said. “Johnson County came to play and we really didn’t. We played like we practiced and we didn’t have a good practice. It’s a win and you have to enjoy the win. I didn’t think we rebounded well or played good defense. As a coach you look at things differently than just wins and losses. I look at it that we can’t play like that and stay on the floor with the Unicoi County’s and the South Greene’s.”

Hampton (5-3 overall) led 34-24 at the break behind 14 first half points from Grubbs and six from Hill. Courtney Brooks scored seven first half points for Johnson County (2-6 overall).

The Lady ‘Dogs opened the third period with a nine point run to open a 43-24 lead with Grubbs scoring six points in the run. Duperry ended the run with a deuce to make it a 43-26 contest with 3:39 remaining in the quarter.

At the end of the period in a scramble for a loose ball, Johnson County freshman Destiny Cole was injured when she slid head first into the concrete stairs leading to the upper level at Van Huss / White gymnasium.

Players from both teams gathered on the JC sideline in a show of solidarity to pray for the stricken Cole as paramedics arrived on the scene to tend to the injured freshman.

In the fourth period JC got as close as 60-45 after a trey from Brittany Brooks and a deuce from Duperry who finished with a game high 23 points to go with 14 rebounds. Grubbs finished with 22 points and seven boards for Hampton, while both Tuelle and Megan Garland added nine each.

 

GIRLS

Hampton 64-45

Johnson Co. (45)

B. Brooks 6, C. Brooks 9, Duperry 23, Terrill 5, Cretsinger 2.

Hampton (64)

Tuelle 9, Bridgeman 2, Neumann 4, Grubbs 22, Hill 8, Carriger 6, Garland 9, Guinn 4.

Johnson Co. 8 16 10 11 – 45

Hampton 18 16 18 12 – 64

3-point goals: JC 3-20 (B.Brooks 2-6, C. Brooks 0-3, Terrill 1-2, Miller 0-1, Cretsinger 0-6, Cole 0-2 ) H 3-8 (Tuelle 1-3, Hill 2-5)

 

BOYS

Hampton 63-57

Johnson Co. (57)

Icenhour 15, Atwood 8, Arnold 2, Vannoy 9, Eads 2, Throop 4, Bailie 10, Lewis 3.

Hampton (63)

Holtsclaw 1, McClain 5, Norris 15, Andrews 13, Lyons 2, Velazquez 10, Wiltshire 2, Butler 11, Crumley 4.

 

Johnson Co. 16 8 13 20 – 57

Hampton 16 11 18 18 – 63

3-point goals: JC 6-17 (Icenhour 3-9, Atwood 2-3, Arnold 0-1, Vannoy 0-1, Lewis 1-1, Guzman 0-1), H 6-15 (Holtsclaw 0-1, McClain 1-2, Norris 1-2, Andrews 2-3, Butler 2-6, Timmons 0-1)