Region 1-A Boys Semifinals Hampton  49   Cosby 47 Bulldogs overcome Eagles early surge to claim a spot in finals opposite U-H

Published 12:18 am Thursday, March 5, 2020

By Ivan Sanders

BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
MORRISTOWN – The Cosby Eagles soared high out of the nest to take a 15-6 advantage at the first stop but thanks to a brilliant plan from Hampton head coach Ned Smith who constantly used his deep bench to keep fresh legs on the court, the Bulldogs managed to wear Cosby down in the fourth quarter to allow Hampton to earn a hard-fought 49-47 win on Tuesday night at Walter State Community College.
Trailing one point by 10 points, the Bulldogs maintained the same composure expressed by their head coach as they took each possession and chipped away at the lead until they managed to finally gain their first lead of the game with three minutes left in the third quarter.
The final eight minutes were well worth the price of attendance as both teams locked horns like two wild bucks fighting over precious territory.
After taking the lead, the Bulldogs found themselves back in the same position as earlier in the contest trailing by five points with about four minutes left to play and the heavily laden Cosby fanbase sensing a finals appearance.
However, the Bulldogs never waivered and never lost focus as once again Smith’s troops bowed their necks and bared their teeth in fighting back to trail by three with under a minute to play.
A hard drive by Garrett Vines who took the basketball from one end of the court to the Hampton glass for a bucket cut the lead to one and forced the Bulldogs to foul sending the Eagles to the line for a one and one.
“Lord, they were up in our shorts and we just had to take care of the ball,” said Vines about the pressure defense from Cosby. “Coach worked on it in practice and we just had to protect the ball and make smart passes and don’t make any fancy moves – just bring it down slowly.
“It was a big win for us and we have worked on it all day long and coach has prepared us well up watching film all night.”
With Cosby playing the same group of players almost the entire game, fatigue started to show especially from the line as a missed free throw allowed Hampton to run the ball up the court where the ball was knocked out of bounds under the Hampton basket by the Eagles with about 5.9 seconds left in the game and the ‘Dogs trailing by one.
The ensuing inbound play came into Caleb Oaks who used his wide frame and muscle to bully past the outstretched arms of the Eagles big post player Riley Galler for the deuce and a one-point Hampton lead.
“We pressed them real hard and that was what killed them I believe,” said Oaks. “In the second half, number three (Johnson) only had one point I believe. I just felt like we were more physical than them.
“That screen right there at the end was what made it happen. I was super excited. We have been together for four years and every one of us knows that we have it in us.”
Cosby called a timeout and on the inbound play, a football-style pass to midcourt was attempted but just like a free safety, Vines was in the right place at the right time as he intercepted the inbounds pass and was fouled with three seconds left to play.
Smith instructed Vines to make the first and intentionally miss the second shot which is exactly what Vines did and Cosby’s last-ditch heave at the buzzer came up short and off-target sending the Hampton players into a frenzy and the Cosby players and fans home in disbelief.
Seven Bulldogs scored in the contest led by Rocky Crow who totaled a team-high 11 points in the win. Oaks scoring nine including the eventual game-winning point.
Fast-charging Conor Jones totaled eight points for Hampton. Jordan Bentley was held in check as the senior scored seven points in the contest.
Matt Hughes and Vines each contributed with five points apiece. Izaak Hill and Morgan Lyons chipped in with two points each.
Braden Shaffer scored a game-high 23 points with 15 points in the first half but only eight in the final 16 minutes of play. Trey Johnson added 10 points for the Eagles including a break-away two-handed flush in his final game as an Eagle.
“The kids just kept coming and we kept with our press and wore them down,” said Smith after the contest. “The kids had good chemistry and they played their hearts out.
“We just thank the Lord for this big win. He (Garrett Vines) was bringing the ball down and we just kept subbing him and Conor (Jones) in and out and they (Cosby) put the pressure on them and they handled it well and got us some good looks.
“They may not have scored a lot of points but they did a great job of getting the ball down the floor allowing us to run some good sets,” continued Smith. “Caleb Oaks just used his strength with one on the floor and one hanging on him and he put it in the hole. No quit in him to finish the game out strong. It’s a special win.”
With the win coupled with U-H’s victory earlier over Cosby, the two teams could have come back to Boone to play the championship game on Thursday night but the Bucs head coach elected to stay at Walters State College so the game will be played in Morristown on Thursday at 7 pm for the Region 1-A championship.
The winner will get the loser of the Oneida-Harriman game also played Thursday night while the loser will go on the road to the winner from Region 2.
Sectional boy’s play will be Monday, March 9th at 7 pm.

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