Hampton was unable to extend the season on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs left it all on the court, but fell 53-41 to Jackson County in the Class A Quarterfinals inside the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.
“I thought our guys played extremely hard,” Hampton Head Coach Ned Smith said. “We got some foul trouble there early and had several kids with fouls early there. When we subbed, they kind of got up on us seven or eight, and it’s kind of the difference in the game.”
The Bulldogs see their season come to an end with a 25-9 mark.
Freshman Colby Clark had 16 points to lead Hampton. Tuff Robinson scored nine points.
It was a back-and-forth battle early on.
Clark and Chase Davenport hit buckets for Hampton early on before Robinson and Jackson Smith hit back-to-back shots to give Hampton an 8-4 lead. The Blue Devils countered to tie the game at 8-8, but HHS used a 6-0 run to extend the lead.
Jackson County, however, countered to close the Hampton lead to 14-13 after a quarter of play.
Bryce Fagan and Clark pushed the Hampton lead out, but the Blue Devils battled back again and used a 7-0 run to end the half to take a 31-24 lead into the locker room at half.
Jackson County pushed the lead out to 11 midway through the third quarter, but Clark and Fagan hit shots to pull the deficit to 39-34 with eight minutes to play.
The Bulldogs closed the gap to three points with Clark buckets. However, Jackson County was able to answer and keep Hampton at bay.
“They never gave up,” Smith said. “I mean, with 20 seconds to go, I subbed and got some others in there, but these guys never give up, and they never quit. They battled to get down here.”
Fagan had six points for Hampton, while Talon Creed and Davenport scored four points each.
As a team, Hampton shot 18-of-52 (35%) from the floor, while Jackson County shot 22-of-40 (55%) from the floor.
Class A Mr. Basketball winner Will McCrary had 24 points to lead Jackson County. Parker Patterson and Alex Meadows had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“We had a big crowd down here, traveling four and a half hours, and just our community really supports us,” Smith said. “We love them and really appreciate it.”
Photos and story by Matt Laws
