Lady 'Dogs put Trojans to test

By Matt Hill
STAR STAFF
mhill@starhq.com

   You couldn't tell by the expressions of the Hampton girls basketball players Monday night that they had lost their sixth straight contest.
   You also couldn't tell by the way the Lady Bulldogs played that they had lost.
   Hampton played arguably its best game of the season Monday night in a 67-62 defeat to powerful Morristown West at VanHuss-White Gym.
   To put the game in perspective, a winless Hampton team was playing a squad that defeated Big Seven powerhouse Daniel Boone earlier in the year.
   Hampton freshman Jessi Price, who scored 11 points on the evening, believed the young team grew up a little bit on Monday night.
   "I think we did, because we moved the ball and we didn't care who was scoring," Price said. "If somebody scored it felt like we scored. It was all teamwork tonight."
   Hampton head coach Leslie Campbell was very proud of the effort, and especially the way the offense came around. Against Sullivan North on Friday night, the Lady Bulldogs could only manage 39 points.
   "I'm proud of them, because of the way they played," Campbell said. "Our goal was to come in here and play together. We worked plays on offense to get open shots. They did exactly what I asked them to do. I hate to lose, but they played well. We're coming, we're getting there."
   The Lady Bulldogs could have easily folded their tent down 56-44 with 4:50 to go in the game, but just wouldn't. A 10-2 Hampton run put the Lady Dogs down 58-54 with 2:48 left in the contest.
   The reason Morristown West might of held on was due to foul shooting. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Trojans shot 11-of-12 in the fourth quarter from the charity stripe.
   West just had too much offensive firepower on this night. Ashley Gray lit up for 26 points to top the Lady Trojans.
   "We had to go the man, because we were behind," Campbell said. "But they made a good effort. We made some immature mistakes, because we're very young. You've just got to live with that. And they'll get there.
   Joy Gardner and Heather Chambers both had solid performances, scoring 20 and 12 points, respectively.
   The Lady Bulldogs will be back in action tonight at home against Cloudland. Price thinks if Hampton can play like it did on Monday night, this team will be hard to handle.
   "We would be like awesome," Price said.