Trailing most of the contest, the Hampton Bulldogs stepped up defensively in the fourth quarter to rally out to a 57-44 win over Happy Valley in a non-conference matchup.
“I really think our defense is what made the difference there in the second half,” said Hampton head coach Ned Smith. “We were able to make some steals and do some transition stuff to get the tempo up.”
Coming into the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs trailed the Warriors 40-37. Midway through the quarter, the Bulldogs laid on the defensive pressure which in turned allowed the ‘Dogs take off on a 10-point run to give Hampton a 50-42 lead with 4:17 left to play. During Hampton’s run, Chris Holtsclaw had two steals that turned into buckets, while Charlie Butler made a bucket and one to close out the run. The Bulldogs ended up outscoring Happy Valley 20-4 in the final quarter.
“Chris Holtsclaw came out and made some big steals when we were down a few points, and it helped us out tremendously,” said Hampton’s Wyatt Lyons. “We got the blood flowing and our momentum going.”
Lyons led the way for the Bulldogs as he posted 17 points to lead all scorers.
In the first frame, the Warriors jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 2:36 left in the first before Hampton closed the gap back down to one point. At the end of the first, the Warriors led Hampton 16-12.
In the second quarter, the contest tied up twice, but the Warriors never gave up a lead to Hampton in the frame. Happy Valley’s Austin Hicks had six points in the second quarter while Chris Young had four . Warriors Brayden Sams finished the first half with two three-pointers to help the Warriors.
Happy Valley head coach Chuck Babb said that the first and second halves were like two different games Thursday night.
“We played three pretty good quarters,” Babb said. “I thought we ran out of gas there at the end. That is my fought.
“It was kind of like two different games,” added Babb. “The first half, there was a ton of fouls and foul shots, and there weren’t that many fouls in the second half, and we didn’t adjust to that, and they did.”
The Warriors were led in scoring by Hicks who had 14 points.
For Hampton, Jose Velazquez and Butler had nine apiece, while Dakota Crumley, Adam McClain, and Holtsclaw all had six.
The Warriors will travel over to Sullivan North tonight for some conference action. Hampton will head to Johnson County on Monday.