Middle school roundup…
Published 12:14 am Tuesday, January 21, 2020
1 of 9
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Hampton Jr. Lady Bulldog Macy Henry climbs the back of a Unicoi County defender in an effort to get off a shot.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Hampton's Dylan Trivett is undercut by a Unicoi Co. player on his way to the rim.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Hampton Middle post player Hayden Campbell goes up for a jump shot over a Unicoi Co. defender.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD Jr. Lady Cyclone Lillie McDuffie goes up for a basket against Sullivan East in the girl's JV tournament at Science Hill.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Lady Cyclone Peyton McGee goes up for a one-handed jumper in TAD's win over East in JV tournament action.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jaiden Wallen takes the ball to the hoop in TAD junior varsity tournament action on Saturday.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD's Kyron Smalls takes the basketball toward the paint while being defended by a Robinson player.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD's Justin Whitehead puts up a shot from beyond the arc for the Jr. Cyclones.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Hampton Jr. Lady Bulldog Chloe Trivett looks for an open teammate while being guarded by a Unicoi Co. Jr. Lady Blue Devil.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
Saturday was a day filled with a lot of sporting events for Carter County teams with everything from wrestling to middle school basketball junior varsity tournaments.
TAD girls advanced to Thursday’s JV championship at Science Hill in roundball play while the Hampton boys and girls split a pair of games with Unicoi County to close out the regular season.
JV tourney begins for TAD, Jr. ‘Dogs split with Unicoi Co.
TAD JV girls advance to tourney championship
JOHNSON CITY – Playing two games on the same day didn’t slow the T.A. Dugger Junior High JV girls team as the Jr. Lady Cyclones defeated Church Hill and Sullivan East to advance to Thursday’s championship game at 6 pm at Science Hill High School’s new gym.
In the day’s first game, the Jr. Lady Cyclones won convincingly with a 34-14 win over Church Hill. Andrea Flores chalked up 14 points to lead the Jr. Lady Cyclones to victory.
Lillie McDuffie contributed in a big way with seven points while Kallie Shepard netted four points in the win.
Peyton McGee drained a three with Jamira Smalls, Aubrey Cole, and Kylee Yeager closing out the scoring for TAD with two points apiece.
In the semifinal game against Sullivan East, the Jr. Lady Cyclones matched their opening game’s output by outdueling the Jr. Lady Patriots 34-20.
Flores once again led in scoring with nine points. She had plenty of help in this one as Smalls and Cole came up big with seven points each to show the way to the win.
McDuffie fired in six points while Shepard netted five as the scoring was more dispersed and even leading to the championship game.
Jr. Cyclone JV ousted in opening tourney game by Robinson
JOHNSON CITY – The TAD junior varsity boys were hoping to hang around and advance through the JV tourney but ran into a huge roadblock in Saturday’s opening game as Robinson defeated the Jr. Cyclones 48-24.
Each time the Jr. Cyclones made an attempt at a run against Robinson, the boys from Kingsport always had an answer to keep the deficit at double figures throughout the contest.
Kyron Smalls led TAD offensively with seven points in the contest. Rhett Slagle tossed in six points and added five rebounds and three steals.
Jaiden Wallen also had a solid, all-around day with five points, four rebounds, and three steals. Colton Killion, Jackson Buckles, and Justin Whitehead added two points apiece in the loss.
Andrew Barnett hit 1-of-2 free throws and chipped in with five assists from his guard position.
Jr. ‘Dogs close out regular season with win over Unicoi Co.
HAMPTON – The Hampton Jr. ‘Dogs closed out their regular season on a high note by defeating the Unicoi County Jr. Blue Devils before a packed house, 40-29.
The Jr. Blue Devils just couldn’t pull themselves off the mat as the one-two punch of Hayden Campbell and Dylan Trivett was just too much to overcome.
Campbell scored 18 and Trivett 17 to lead the short-handed Jr. Bulldogs to the win. Hampton has lost three players in the last couple of weeks due to injury and other reasons and have had to readjust their strategy going into the conference tournament.
Chandler Smith and Elijah McKinney accounted for the other five points as Smith collected three points and McKinney two in the victory.
Trivett pulled down 11 rebounds while seven assists and collecting six steals. Campbell added 10 boards in the win.
Jr. Lady ‘Dogs drop heartbreaker to Unicoi Co.
HAMPTON – The Hampton Jr. Lady ‘Dogs fought with all their might but couldn’t get the buckets to fall when needed in dropping a 23-19 final to the Jr. Lady Blue Devils in their regular-season finale.
Taylor Berry scored 13 points in the loss for Hampton while Gracie Ballard netted three points. Piper Helle (2) and Macy Henry (1) closed out the scoring.
Berry also led in rebounding with seven boards and added two assists. Helle contributed with four rebounds, two assists, and three steals in the contest.
