It was a renewal of a longtime county rivalry on Tuesday night. Hampton held the winning edge.
The Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs picked up key District 1-A wins by defending home court over Cloudland. Hampton won the girls contest 55-44 over the Lady ‘Landers, while the Bulldogs took a thrilling 49-47 victory over the ‘Landers.
In the boys’ game, it took both teams a bit to get back in the groove of things after lengthy layoffs due to snow. Hampton took an 11-5 lead into the second quarter with back-to-back baskets from Jose Velasquez and Chris Timmons.
The Bulldogs opened the lead to 10 points, but Cloudland answered with a Brinkley Mull 3-pointer. After HHS held a 22-12 lead midway through the quarter, Cloudland’s Robert Leeper scored six straight points to help Cloudland pull within 24-20 at the half.
The ‘Landers and Bulldogs traded runs over the third quarter as HHS maintained a slim 38-37 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Leeper and Josh Blair pushed Cloudland into their first lead of the game in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs’ Wyatt Lyons and Charlie Butler hit shots down the stretch to push Hampton back in front before Blair tied the game at 46-46 with 3:41 to play.
Cloudland had a chance to win or force overtime in the final seconds but the shot was off the mark as time expired.
Lyons had 17 points to lead all scorers. Butler had 11 points, while Velasquez had seven points.
Leeper had 15 points to pace Cloudland. Preston Benfield and Blair had 11 points apiece.
In the varsity opener, Cloudland held the upper hand in the opening minutes. Shian Strickland and Johanna Johnson hit shots to power CHS to a 7-3 lead midway through the quarter. Shy Tuelle, however, answered the Cloudland run and helped the Bulldogs end the quarter on a 10-3 run to take a 13-10 victory into the second quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs methodically added to their lead in the second quarter as they led by eight points. After the teams traded shots, Hampton held a 28-21 lead at the half.
The second half saw Hampton continue to hold control.
HHS extended the lead to 43-26 late in the third quarter, but Cloudland used a 7-0 run to close the gap early in the fourth quarter. However, that was as close as the Lady ‘Landers could get.
Tuelle led all scorers with 19 points, while Alexus Grubbs had 16 points. Megan Garland had nine points.
Strickland had 15 points to lead Cloudland, while DonRae Taylor had 10 points.
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