Huskies stun ‘Dogs in last second trey
Published 9:57 am Thursday, February 7, 2019
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton’s Rocky Cory (34) knifes his way between two Husky defenders for a shot in the lane.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Huskies Shane Cooter (42) fouls Hampton’s Caleb Oaks (32) by grabbing him around waist as he drive down the lane for a layup.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Jonah Jones (4) slices down the lane for two in the second quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Jordan Bentley (35) steps back and hits a jumper for two over North Greene’s Kendal Loftis (32) midway through the second quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton’s Mitchell Tolley (11) drains a three from the corner.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Bulldogs Caleb Oaks (32) is fouled by North Greene’s Chance Campbell (5) as he puts a runner up in the lane.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders In between Tuesday nights boys and girls games Hampton paused to pay tribute to their fallen coach Jesse James. Nearly 50 former players and coaches came to the gym to honor their beloved coach. Coach James’ wife Carolyn was presented with a framed signed photo of his last team.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders As a sign of respect the North Greene girls team each step into the stands after the tribute to Coach Jesse James and offered a hug and words of condolence to Carolyn James.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton girls basketball head coach Bud Hazelwood presents a #15 jersey to Carolyn James. That was the number her husband, coach Jesse James wore, when he played on the 1966 state runner-up Bulldog team coached by the late Buck Van Huss.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton’s Leanne Guinn (22) hits a pull up jumper in the lane late in the fourth quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders After stealing the ball at mid-court Hampton’s Brooke Hughes (12) drives the lane for a layup.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The Lady Bulldogs Stephanie Campbell (3) goes around North Greene’s Breezy Savage (20) for a layup in the third quarter.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Hampton’s cheerleaders perform a routine during a timeout in the girls game against the Lady Husky’s of North Greene.
North Greene forward Turner Bailey didn’t size up the off-balance shot on Tuesday evening at Van Huss / White gymnasium, but he let it fly just the same. And when the buzzer sounded the 3-ball swished through the net giving the North Greene Huskies a 40-37 win over Hampton in Watauga Valley Conference basketball action.
“They have a good team and they made a big shot at the end,” said Bulldogs head coach Ned Smith. “I thought my team played hard and battled all night. North Greene is well coached and both teams defended really well.”
The Bulldogs (20-8, 6-2 WVC) led 12-10 after one quarter was in the books and held a slender 24-22 advantage at the half with Caleb Oaks leading the way with six first-half points. The Huskies (19-8, 6-3) outscored Hampton 10-7 in the low scoring third period to take a 32-31 lead into the fourth quarter.
The ‘Dogs usually live on offensive rebounding and put back shots but on this night North Greene had 6’10” post Tom Skorich re-directing and changing Hampton shots in the paint. In all, Skorich had five blocked shots and changed a great many others.
“Number 21 (Skorich) alters a lot of shots,” Smith said. “He is 6 foot nine, or 10 and he makes you alter your shot. I thought Caleb battled on the boards – he had nine rebounds – and did a good job on defense.”
The fourth quarter was a defensive struggle with each team managing single-digit scoring, but with 15 seconds left, the score was knotted at 37-37. Bailey took a low pass at the top of the arc and saw the clock winding down and fired an off-balance rainbow that found the bottom of the net as the buzzer sounded.
GIRLS
North Greene 60,
Hampton 50
The Lady Bulldogs played with heavy hearts due to the loss of assistant coach Jesse James, who was given a nice tribute following the game with Lady Bulldogs with head coach Bud Hazelwood eulogizing his friend and assistant along with North Greene’s head coach James Buchanan.
Players and coaches from his many years of coaching were on hand to be recognized and to remember coach James.
“This years team can claim the honor of being the last he coached,” Hazelwood said. “Jesse loved his kids and they loved him. They didn’t always like to run or be corrected by him all the time, but they still loved him.”
In the game, the Lady Bulldogs (8-10, 4-5) hung tough with the Lady Huskies as senior guard Stephanie Campbell scored 11 first-half points and North Greene was left clinging to a 30-25 halftime edge. The Huskies (22-6, 8-1) extended to a 42-34 lead after three quarters only to see Hampton rally behind nine fourth-quarter points from senior guard Leann Guinn.
After buckets from Hazen Brumitt and Guinn, the Bulldogs pulled to within 50-47. Hampton was outscored 10-3 the rest of the way with NG hitting six free throws down the stretch. Campbell finished with a team-high 18 points but had just three in the fourth period with Guinn scoring 14.
“We’re a pretty good team when Guinn scores 12 to 14 points,” Hazelwood said. “They got 22 points from the free throw line. We can’t put a team at the line that much.”
