The Hampton onslaught kept on coming on Thursday, and it carried the Bulldogs to a region title and back for one more home game.
Hampton used a strong second quarter to pull away and roll to a 74-54 Region 1-A Championship victory over Cosby at Chuckey Doak Middle School.
The win also secured the Bulldogs homecourt advantage for Monday’s substate against Meigs County.
After Cosby opened the game with a short lay-up, Coby Jones knocked down a jump shot to spark an 8-2 Hampton run that included points from Nathan Norris, Wyatt Lyons and Jose Velasquez. The Eagles, however, battled back with a 7-2 run late in the first quarter to tie the game at 17. Velasquez added a Hampton bucket that gave HHS a 19-17 lead heading to the second quarter.
The Bulldogs took control in the second quarter.
Norris knocked down a trey to open the scoring, and Velasquez added a shot before back-to-back buckets from Coby Jones gave HHS a 12-point lead. After a Cosby basket, six quick Hampton points forced an Eagle timeout.
From there, Hampton slowly added to the lead and held a 45-28 advantage at the half.
The third quarter started much like the third as Velasquez and Norris kicked off a 13-0 Bulldog run – that also include four points from Charlie Butler – to push the Hampton lead to 58-30. The teams traded points as the Bulldogs took a 66-40 lead into the fourth quarter.
Hampton left no doubt in the final period by extending the advantage to 30 points. Cosby was unable to trim the lead in the closing minutes as the Bulldogs pulled back the pressure.
Velasquez recorded a game-high 16 points to pace Hampton, while Jones added 15 points. Norris tallied 14 points in the game. Butler finished with 10 points.
For his performance, Jones was named the Region 1-A MVP, while Chris Holtsclaw, Norris and Velasquez joined him on the All-Tournament team.
Postgame Audio
Hampton Head Coach Ned Smith
Photo Gallery
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