EHS routs Hampton
By Ivan Sanders
STAR CORRESPONDENT
isanders@starhq.com
The game was like watching a dogfight between
a Toy Poodle and a Rottweiller as there was plenty of spirited
action, but in the end the Elizabethton Cyclones were the
biggest and baddest dog in the whole town.
Building a 36-12 halftime edge, the Cyclone starting
five came out and put the finishing touches on the game before
turning the contest over to reserves in taking a melodramatic
66-33 win in VanHuss-White Gym on Monday night over the Hampton
Bulldogs.
"There's so much tradition and history in this
building, we knew we were going to have to play well to win,"
said a pleased Cyclone mentor Tony Hardin. "It took us a while
to get on track because Bud had a good game plan, but once
we got focused we played like we were capable of playing."
The first half was all Cyclones as Elizabethton
raced to a 16-2 lead after one quarter of play. Walter Brown
nailed a perfect 8 of 8 from the charity stripe to pace EHS
while Lester Bailey and Vince Redd added four each. Adam Miller
collected the only two points of the first eight minutes for
Hampton.
Elizabethton continued to increase the expanse
between themselves and Hampton as Redd was the big man in
the period with nine points for the Cyclones with Bailey also
adding four more to his total. Brad Holtsclaw added some muscle
points on the inside with three and Phillip Garland continued
to add solid minutes by collecting two.
Greg Osborne and Shane Campbell collected five
each to make up Hampton's scoring in the second quarter.
The third quarter had some anxious minutes, both
from the court and from the stands as an altercation halted
play briefly. Then a very scary moment occurred on the court
as Corey McKinney of Hampton was going in for a lay-up that
was contested by Cyclone center Redd.
Both players came down like a big oak tree as
each player hit their heads and their bodies came flying wildly
behind. Redd managed to get to his feet, but McKinney was
left wreathing in pain on the floor as members of the Carter
County Rescue Squad responded to take the young man to the
hospital with a possible concussion.
The teams were sent to their respective locker
rooms for about twenty minutes and when action resumed, the
Cyclones picked back up where they left off as they brought
the quarter to an end leading in convincing fashion by a score
of 50-17.
"Elizabethton is definitely a top three or four
team in the state," said Hampton coach Bud Hazelwood. "We
came in wanting to shut Lambert and Miller down and we did,
but we made too many turnovers to have a chance at beating
a very good team like Elizabethton."
The fourth period belonged to the reserves, which
will prove vital on down the road by allowing them to face
the environment that playing at Hampton can provide. Hampton
reaped the benefits of having the younger Cyclones in the
contest by scoring 16 in the final eight minutes, led by six
from Travis Smith and five points from Michael McCall.
Charles Peters and Bradley Brown made the best
of their time as each were five of six from the free throw
line for five points in the final quarter. Derrick Wilson,
Michael Porter, and Chris Vaughn closed out the scoring in
the period with two each for EHS.
"We just had to play our game and not let what
was going on off the court bother us," stated Redd.
Brown added: "We just had to stay calm tonight
because the fans really get into it here. This will help us
if we get on down the road in state competition playing in
an environment like this."
Redd led all scorers with 21 on the night. Bailey
added 10 points with nine other Cyclones breaking the scoring
column. Coach Hazelwood's game plan worked as Lambert would
net only two on this evening and Miller couldn't crack the
goose-egg against a very aggressive defense.
Travis Smith's six paced Hampton followed by
four players with five points each including Zach Trivette,
Greg Osborne, Shane Campbell, and McCall.
(Note: Both teams want to express their concerns
and offer their prayers for a speedy recovery for McKinney)
