Cloudland and Hampton split a pair of District county varsity contests on Friday night.
The Lady ‘Landers captured a 62-40 victory, while the Bulldogs picked up a 56-43 win over the ‘Landers inside Sonny Smith Gymnasium.
In the girls’ game, it was a physical battle from the onset.
Linsey Jenkins opened the scoring with a jumper, but Ella Benfield and Isabella Christman countered with back-to-back shots for the Lady ‘Landers. Taylor Berry evened the score up at 4-4 midway through the first.
The teams traded shots before Benfield hit a jumper to kick off a 7-0 run to end the half to give CHS a 13-5 advantage after a quarter of play.
Karah Fields opened the second quarter with a trey for CHS before Macy Henry broke the Cloudland run with a Hampton bucket.
The Lady ‘Landers slowed extended their lead over the second quarter with key shots from Kendall Birchfield and Ryan Turbyfill to take a 26-12 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Cloudland scored nine of the first 11 points of the third quarter with Hampton’s Madi McClain scoring the lone Hampton bucket.
The Lady Bulldogs countered with a run of their own as Jenkins and Henry along with Piper Helle added points to cut into the lead.
Cloudland, however, maintained a 44-26 lead after three complete quarters.
Hampton closed the gap to 13 points with a pair of free throws from Rylie McClain near the midpoint of the fourth quarter. However, Cloudland was able to quickly push the lead back out to secure the win.
Benfield led Cloudland with 19 points, while Turbyfill had 14 points. Fields tossed in 12 points.
Henry led Hampton with 10 points. Jenkins and M. McClain had seven points apiece.
In the boys’ game, the teams traded shots to kick things off.
Hampton’s Michael Harrison and Cloudland’s Caleb Sluder scored the first points of the game for their respective teams. After Conor Burleson put Hampton back in front, Caden Clark drained a 3-pointer as CHS held a one-point lead near the midpoint of the quarter.
Hampton, however, went on a quick 7-0 run before a Sluder bucket to take a 15-10 lead into the second quarter.
The run continued for the Bulldogs as Hampton reeled off a 12-2 run over the quarter – and held Cloudland to just four points in the frame – to maintain a 27-14 advantage at the half.
The ‘Landers, however, weren’t going to go away quietly.
Harrison and Sluder traded shots to open the third quarter, and Hampton maintained a 12-point advantage with just over four minutes left in the quarter.
Eli Benfield and Sluder hit back-to-back hots for Cloudland as the ‘Landers closed the gap to seven points before Conor Burleson hit a Hampton jumper to give the Bulldogs a 41-32 advantage after three complete quarters.
HHS turned up the pressure opening the final quarter with a quick 7-2 run to push the lead back to double-digits.
Cloudland continued to fight, but Hampton was able to secure the win.
Harrison had 20 points to lead Hampton, while Burleson finished with 11 points. Cadon Buckles and Logan Whitehead had six points apiece.
Sluder had a game-high 25 points. Clarke ended the night with six points, while Dylan Shell, Dylan McClellan had four points apiece.
