Junior Cyclones defeat feisty Hampton
By Ivan Sanders
STAR CORRESPONDENT
isanders@starhq.com
T.A. Dugger brought the horses and Hampton brought
the 'Dogs for what turned into a wild frolic on the hardwood,
with the Jr. Cyclones taking two from the visiting Bulldogs
in seventh and eighth-grade boys action at T.A. Dugger Junior
High on Tuesday evening.
In eighth-grade action, T.A. Dugger ran out to
a quick 10-2 advantage after the first period buzzer. The
Jr. 'Dogs shook off their first-quarter jitters and made TAD
work for everything it got in the second period as Hampton
actually outscored the home team 8-7 to cut the lead to seven,
17-10, at intermission.
Austin Taylor was high man for the Jr. Cyclones
in the half as he pumped in seven points to pace TAD. Travis
Bishop collected four points and Josh Guinn netted three in
aiding the Jr. Cyclones efforts.
Jarred Irick showed the way for Hampton in the
first half of action as he scored four, including a trey.
Dustin Jaynes and Adam Townsend added three points and two
points, respectively.
"I told the guys before the game we had to quit
using excuses about injuries and youth, and just go out and
take the fight to somebody," said Hampton coach Leon Tolley.
"I am really tickled because this is really the best we played
all year."
The Jr. 'Clones appeared to lose their composure
somewhat in the third as the Jr. 'Dogs actually pulled within
four at 22-18 with 1:46 left in the period. TAD was able to
put only two more on the board before the quarter expired,
leaving the Jr. 'Clones clinging to a six-point lead entering
the fourth and final period.
In the fourth, TAD was finally able to go on
a 4-0 run to get a little breathing room at 28-20 with 3:35
left in the game.
It was a typical Leon Tolley-coached squad as
the 'Dogs kept scrapping away at TAD in typical Bulldog fashion
as they fought to the final horn, but hit a slightly cold
scoring spell as the Jr. Cyclones finally managed to close
out Hampton by a 34-27 score.
Jaynes collected high-scorer honors for Hampton
with 10 while Taylor finished with nine for TAD.
Townsend and Stacy Honeycutt finished with five
each for Hampton, with Irick's four points and Bobby James
three closing out the offense for Hampton.
Bishop followed Taylor with eight points while
Brian Jenkins and Guinn adding five apiece. Preston Smith,
Bo Carter and Brent Shaffer pitched in with two points each
and Ryan Greene closed out the tally sheet with one point
for TAD.
"It really was an ugly win," said Jr. 'Clone
coach Ryan Witten, who was filling in for head coach James
Jacobs. "Hampton had some quick guards out there and their
defense really was tough, causing us not to take care of the
ball like we should have."
Hampton 7th 25
T.A. Dugger 7th 33
In the opener, it was another barn-burner as
the Jr. Cyclone 7th graders managed to hold off a feisty bunch
of Bulldogs in recording the eight-point victory.
Jake Peters turned the heat up in the third quarter
as the young man pumped in seven points to extend the TAD
edge to 29-21 after three complete. The Jr. Cyclones struggled
with shutting down Hampton's ace, Bobby Jones, as the 'Dog
led all scorers by tallying 17 big points in the contest.
Jonathan Scalf added four points, with Justin
Bentley and Lucas Andrews contributing with two each. Bentley
also had an outstanding night defensively, collecting several
boards and blocking four shots.
For TAD, Peters paced the winners with nine points
while Ryan Greene and Wes Anderson were contributing factors,
adding seven points and six points, respectively. Wendall
Loving netted four followed by Brent Thomas with three points,
with Jordan Coleman and Ryan Birchfield tickling the twine
for two points each.
Thomas matched Bentley defensively as the lanky
post for TAD swatted four shots off the hands of the Bulldog
shooters.
