The Unaka Lady Rangers cut things close late Tuesday night in Stoney Creek.
The Hampton Lady Bulldogs, however, had other plans as they held on for a 45-36 win to open up conference play.
And for the Lady ’Dogs (2-7, 1-0) the win came at the right time as they seek to get a 1-7 season back on course.
“We have been close in about six games this year,” said Hampton head coach Bud Hazelwood. “This one could have gone anyway. Sometimes you lose these close ones. You have to learn how to win. We guarded them pretty well. They had come in averaging about 60 points.”
Lady Bulldogs senior Shyanne Tuelle led the way as she posted a game-high 19 points. With many people not giving the Lady Bulldogs much of a chance coming into Tuesday’s game, Tuelle said her team came in hungry for a win.
“It was a really big win for us,” said Tuelle. “Everyone doubted us because we were the underdogs. Everyone thought that Unaka was going to blow us out. We played our butts off. We had people step up that don’t usually score. We did get a little tired there in the third quarter, but we picked it back up and did well. I am proud of my teammates.”
Coming out of the half, the Lady Bulldogs held a 25-18 lead before pushing out to 35-27 heading into the fourth period. In the closing quarter, the Lady Bulldogs climbed out to 39-29 lead before Unaka cut the margin to just six points behind back-to-back buckets from Lady Rangers Sarah Tipton and Savannah Tipton. Tuelle, however, popped a jumper to jump Hampton out 41-33 with less than two minutes left to play. Down the stretch, Hampton’s Kaysi Royston went 2-of-3 from the charity stripe to help the Lady Bulldogs keep their distance.
“We held our poise pretty good,” said Hazelwood about the Lady ’Dogs. “I was really proud of them.
In the first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs worked out to a 10-7 lead behind five points from Tuelle and a 3-point from Lady Bulldogs Kinzey Hill. Unaka’s Savannah Tipton had a pair of buckets while teammate Cydney Forney posted two in the period.
In the second quarter, Tuelle posted six points while Royston knocked down a 3-pointer and a bucket for five to help Hampton outpace Unaka 15-11. For Unaka, Sydney Markland had a pair of 3-pointers while Myah Parlier posted five points.
For Hampton, Royston finished the game with 10 points while Campbell posted eight and Hill scored five.
Savannah Tipton led Unaka with nine points as Parlier contributed eight.