Hampton wasn’t going to be denied on Monday night.
The Bulldogs delivered a knockout punch to take a 55-41 victory over Harriman in the Class A Sectional in Harriman.
The win secured Hampton’s spot in the BlueCross Basketball Championships Class A tournament and will open the tournament on March 17 against the West Carroll – who defeated Santa Fe 54-53 on Monday night.
Hampton had to rally from an early deficit as the Blue Devils scored over the first 10 points of the game.
Isaiah McCoury put the Bulldogs on the board with a jumper, but Harriman answered to push the lead to 12-2 with just over four minutes left in the quarter.
The Bulldogs ended the quarter on a 6-0 run as Dalton Holtsclaw scored to start the win that included shots from Michael Harrison and Cadon Buckles. That closed the gap to 12-8 after a quarter of play.
The teams traded shots to open the second quarter as the Blue Devils maintained a 16-10 advantage at the midpoint of the quarter.
Hampton, however, got things rolling.
Harrison hit back-to-back 3-pointers to even things up, while Holtsclaw and Buckles hit back-to-back shots to give Hampton a 20-16 advantage with two minutes left in the half.
The Bulldogs pushed the advantage to 26-21 at the half.
In the third quarter, Hampton held the momentum.
Shots from Buckles and Lyons pushed the advantage to 14 points just past the midpoint of the third quarter.
The teams traded points for the rest of the quarter as Hampton held a 39-27 lead after three quarters of play.
Harriman didn’t go quietly as the Blue Devils went on a 10-4 run to open the quarter to close the Hampton lead to six points with 4:58 left on the clock.
Lyons and the Bulldogs, however, delivered the final run.
Lyons hit back-to-back shots to stop the Harriman run, and Conor Burleson pushed the lead to 12 points.
From there, Hampton was able to take care of business to secure the win.
Buckles led Hampton 17 points, while Lyons had 16 points. Harrison ended the game with 10 points.
Jordan McCullum led Harriman with 18 points.
