MURFREESBORO—Comedian Jerry Clower once said the biggest fight he saw between two groups of dogs was over a bowl of boiled okra.

In Thursday’s Blue Cross Boys’ Basketball Championship Class A quarterfinals, there is a lot more at stake for two groups of Bulldogs as Hampton and Clay County tip off at 12:30 pm EST with a semifinal game awaiting the winner and a long bus trip home the loser.

For many teams, just reaching the state tournament is reward enough, but that mentality doesn’t sit well with Hampton as they have been to the ‘Boro the last three years and this year they want to carry a gold ball back to Carter County.

“We’ve came to win this thing,” said Hampton head coach Ned Smith. “We worked hard this week, so I think these guys have come to win.

“Since the sectional, we have only taken one day off and have worked hard. These boys have been down here and three of them—Adam (McClain), Coby (Jones), and Nathan (Norris) have all had playing experience here last year.”

For the teams that win at the state level, the one unchanging factor is that those that have success are able to do the same thing they have done to bring them to the championship.

It’s no different with Hampton.

“We have been here and played here before,” said senior guard Norris. “We are just going to stick to the same game plan that got us here pretty much. We hope to keep shooting like we have been and try to get to the goal more because it’s a bigger arena.

“We are coming to win. We are going to try everything we can to win,” added Norris. “We have to play really good defense because they have really good shooters, and we will definitely need to step up our defense. We have had pretty good practice this week. It’s really special to come back in my last year with an opportunity to play for a championship.”

Clay County is an unfamiliar opponent for Hampton, but Smith who has had a lot of success managing the Hampton teams over the last few years broke down what he expects to see from the other group of Bulldogs.

“They have a good 6’3” point guard that shoots the three and gets to the hole,” said Smith after reviewing game film on Hampton’s opponent. “He has a really good jump shot and makes everybody around him better. He’s a real true point guard that is very tough.

“Also, they have a 6’6” kid inside that can play. He plays well around the basket,” added Smith. “We have got to keep him blocked out. They like to press a lot, usually a diamond-type press. Their two big kids are going to get points—we have just got to control them. We can’t let them go off.”

For Jones, Hampton’s other senior guard, the bottom line can be summed up in two defining words as the key to the contest

“Effort—smart effort,” stated Jones with emphasis. “When we were out there in the past, we have been stage frightened by the pressure of the game, including myself, but this year a lot of experience of having been in those situations here for the last two years will really help us.

We have got to keep fighting. When something happens you can’t drop your head,” added Jones. “When someone makes a turnover and shakes their head the other team takes it right at them. I have been trying to tell them to shake it off and go on. We have got to give it our all and rely on God and leave it all up to Him.”

Smith said he feels that his team is ready to respond to the task at hand of dealing with the pressure of playing on such a big stage and facing talented opponents.

“We stopped at Tennessee and got a lot of shots up on the way down,” said Smith. “The kids are real focused and have been focused all week and have paid a lot of attention to detail.

“You have to have kids that can handle pressure and put the ball in the hole. There are going to be some tremendous athletes with size bigger than what we have played down here.”

The winner of Hampton’s contest will square off with the winner of the Mitchell and Middle Tennessee Christian matchup which will be played prior to the Hampton contest.