It was another classic between two county foes.
The Lady Bulldogs erased an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 52-50 victory over Unaka on Tuesday night on Stoney Creek. In the boys’ game, Hampton pulled away to a 79-49 victory over the homestanding Rangers.
The girls’ game saw the teams go toe-to-toe in the early stages. The teams played to a 10-10 draw after eight minutes of play, and the Lady Rangers held a slim 24-21 lead at the half.
Unaka took control in the third quarter with big shots from Madison Ensor and Savannah Tipton. That allowed the Lady Rangers to take a 36-28 into the fourth.
The Lady Rangers pushed the lead to 11 points early in the fourth, but Hampton wasn’t done yet. Alexus Grubbs and Shy Tuelle helped spark a charge that saw the Lady Bulldogs stay in the thick of the District 1-A race.
Grubbs had a game-high 23 points for the Lady Bulldogs, while Tuelle finished with 15 points. Megan Garland added nine points.
Ensor tallied 16 points for Unaka. Katlyn Weaver and Myah Parlier had six points apiece. In all, eight Lady Rangers scored in the game.
The Bulldogs pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back.
Unaka, however, set the tone early as the Rangers ran out to an 8-0 lead. However, Hampton fought back to take a 17-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs began to take control in the second. HHS doubled up the Rangers 22-11 in the quarter to take a 39-25 lead into the locker room at half.
From there, it was all Hampton.
Wyatt Lyons and Jose Velazquez had 21 and 20 points, respectively, to lead Hampton. Charlie Butler had 18 points, while Dakota Crumley had seven points.
Kyler Lewis had a game-high 32 points to lead the Rangers. John Boy Ramsey added eight points.
