Basketball: Great Bridge boys, Wilson girls fall

HAMPTON

The Great Bridge boys couldn’t make shots, and Hampton’s Tiffany Davis couldn’t miss.

The result was a Hampton sweep in Tuesday’s Eastern Region basketball doubleheader at Hampton.

In the boys quarterfinals, the Crabbers got just enough points to survive a 39-36 tug-of-war with the Wildcats. Then Davis scorched Wilson for 33 points as the Crabbers girls team downed Wilson 70-53.

Hampton will play King’s Fork in the boys semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday at Churchland. In the girls semifinals, Hampton will face Princess Anne at 6 p.m. Friday at Churchland.

Davis scored 12 of her points in the opening eight minutes when the Crabbers snapped an 11-11 tie by scoring the final 12 points of the first quarter. Once the Presidents lost contact with the Crabbers, they never were able to reel them back in.

“We knew we couldn’t make many mistakes against this team,” Wilson coach Roger Smith said. “But we made ’em, and they capitalized.”

Eulandra Forrest helped the Presidents hang around, scoring 24 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, and Shakiyla Finney added 15.

But each time Wilson shaved its deficit into the 7-9 point range, the Crabbers had an answer.

Usually, that answer was Davis. A 5-foot-8 senior guard, Davis continually confounded Wilson with explosive forays to the rim. Even seemingly secure traps had no effect – Davis simply blasted through before exploiting what was left of the Wilson defense.

“We just knew we had to attack,” said Davis, who has signed with Temple.

In the boys opener, Great Bridge didn’t score until eight seconds remained in the first quarter, made just 4 of 24 shots in the first half and missed all 11 of its first-half 3-pointers.

Yet Hampton was only marginally more effective, and when the Wildcats looked at the scoreboard after the opening 16 minutes, they found themselves down by just five.

“We felt like we were right back in it,” Great Bridge’s Carvin Powell said.

The Wildcats then made five straight shots – including 3-pointers by Briante Weber and Donte Artis – and surged ahead 26-21 with 3:40 left in the third quarter.

But they would make just three more field goals the rest of the game, as Hampton’s defensive pressure and superior rebounding won out.

Sean Johnson scored a game-high 15 points for Hampton.

Hampton 39, Great Bridge 36

GREAT BRIDGE (15-10): Weber 13, Hudson 5, Artis 8, Powell 7, Popelka 2, Jordan 1. Totals 12 7-12 36.

HAMPTON (21-6): Johnson 15, Sawyer 2, Monroe 3, Harper 2, Starkey 7, Johnson 10. Totals 13 12-25.39.

Halftime: Hampton 18-13. 3-point goals: Weber 2, Artis, Hudson, Starkey.

Hampton 70, Wilson 53

WILSON (15-9): Fry 2, Finney 15, Ellis 8, Forrest 24, Leonard 2, Powell 2. Totals 19 13-23 53.

HAMPTON (23-2): Lynch 3, Brown 12, Smith 13, T.Davis 33, Carter 5, J. Davis 4. Totals: 23 22-32 70.

Halftime: Hampton 34-26. 3-point field goals: Finney, Brown, Smith.