It was an offensive showcase inside Daniel Boone on Saturday afternoon, and the Unaka girls basketball team took advantage.
The Lady Rangers stormed past Hampton en route to an 82-59 victory in the District 1-A Semifinals. Unaka will take on North Greene in Tuesday’s Championship tilt, while Hampton will take on Cloudland in Monday’s consolation game.
The first quarter was all Unaka. After Kaysi Royston scored the first bucket of the game, the Lady Rangers scored the next 17 points of the game – including nine points from Lexi Garland and six points from Myah Parlier. That gave UHS a 17-2 advantage going into the second quarter.
The Lady Rangers maintained the advantage for the opening minutes of the second before Hampton got things going from the foul line, but Unaka extended the lead to 20 points before the midpoint of the quarter.
Shy Tuelle snapped a 10-minute field goal drought for Hampton as the Bulldogs closed the gap to 13 points as Tuelle scored the next 11 Lady Bulldog points. The teams traded points the rest of the quarter as Unaka maintained a 44-26 lead at the half.
Sarah Tipton and Parlier opened the second half by converting and-ones for the Lady Rangers as part of an 11-0 run to open the third quarter. Hannah Collin and Hayley Carden knocked down shots for Hampton to stop the run and get the Lady Bulldog offense back on track.
The remainder of the quarter was a back and forth battle as Unaka maintained a 71-49 lead after three-quarters of play.
In the final eight minutes, Unaka erased any thought of a comeback with a quick start.
Garland led Unaka with 26 points, while Parlier finished with 22 points. Tipton and Cydney Forney tossed in nine and eight points, respectively.
Tuelle led Hampton with an impressive 31 points. Carden tallied 10 points, while Kinzy Hill added nine points.
For more pictures from the game, click here.
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