The Hunter Tigers and University School Bucs were the last teams to take the floor Monday night during the Area 1 Class A Basketball Tournament at Hampton Elementary.
The show that the two teams put on was definitely not the least entertaining.
Both squads battled throughout before the Hunter walked off the court with a narrow, hard-fought 34-33 win to advance on the championship against Hampton.
The Bucs got the upper hand in the first frame as University worked out to a 15-8 advantage as US’s Jackson Noland paced his team with five of his team-high 11 points. Hunter’s Joez Blamo knocked down a pair of buckets in the first as teammates Landon Ramsey and Jonathan Campbell each sunk baskets to help the Tigers’ cause.
Hunter’s scoring almost came to a standstill in the second frame as University outpaced the Tigers 10-3 with Noland again leading the charge with four points in the frame. Noland’s teammate Landon White chipped in a 3-pointer to keep the Bucs rolling. For Hunter, Blamo recorded his teams only points in the period.
At the half, University led 25-11.
After a lackluster first half, the Tigers came out ready to fight in the third. Locking down defensively, Hunter held University to just two points in the third frame. The Tigers had five players post points in the period as they scored 11 points. Hunter’s Ryan Sexton dropped in a 3-pointer while Ramsey, Blamo, Harley Berry, and Tyler Dugger all had two points each. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Tigers had cut University’s lead to just five points, 27-22.
The Tigers again held University to single digits in the fourth as Hunter worked the nets for 12. Blamo dropped two buckets for four points in the quarter while Peters and Campbell each had three points apiece. Berry chipped in two.
Blamo had a game-high 12 points to lead the Tigers. Campbell finished with five while Berry and Ramsey each finished with four points. Sexton and Dugger had three and two points, respectively.