HAMPTON – The hype was real and the crowd in Hampton was raucous as two District 1-2A met on Friday night, unfortunately, the game did not meet expectations and a lackluster officiating job marred what was hoped to be another classic battle between South Greene and the Bulldogs.
South Greene, hampered by injuries and foul trouble, dropped the first game of the season series to Hampton 71-55 on Friday night. The Rebels were without starting guard Jase Roderick due to an injury sustained in Tuesday night’s win over Johnson County, and for almost three full quarters on Friday they were also without Chandler Gamble due to foul trouble.
Officiating was a huge issue in Friday night’s game. A total of 39 fouls were called. Gamble was handed three fouls in the first 1:17 of the first quarter and forced to sit for the remainder of the half. He would ultimately foul out very early in the fourth quarter with only seven points.
“I think everybody in the gym saw what happened tonight. Officiating took one kid out of the entire game, and immediately the ball game is over,” South Greene coach Terry Hoese said. “There’s no way there’s that many fouls in one game and it was both ways. They called charges all night long. You couldn’t even play basketball. It’s ridiculous. It was absolutely ridiculous. All three of them tonight were ridiculous.
“There’s no question about it officiating changed the basketball game tonight. I’ve got a 6’8” kid who barely plays any minutes. It was both ways. They called a bunch of crap charges on Hampton too,” Hoese continued. “You couldn’t move on the floor if you touched somebody it was a charge. Not basketball from where I come from. It was officiated that way. We’ve got to make sure we make adjustments when all that stuff happens and we didn’t do a very good job at making those adjustments.”
Last year’s instant classic saw South Greene gain revenge with a triple overtime victory at Hampton. The win helped propel the Rebels into a position to clinch a share of the regular season championship and gain the number one seed in the tournament. But before that game, the Rebels played Hampton at home and dropped that one without Roderick in the lineup then too. They’ve been in this same situation before one year prior. Luckily for the Rebels, the season is long and it’s still only December.
“Good thing about it is that it’s December. There’s no championships to be handed out right now until February or March. The bottom line is we’re looking forward to the rest of the season and try to get everybody back healthy and see where we go,” Hoese stated.
South Greene falls to 1-1 against District 1-2A competition after the first week of games. Hampton improves to 2-0 and joins West Greene at the top through one week.
The game looked like it may get out of hand early with the Bulldogs jumping ahead 7-0 with five-straight points from Chase Davenport to open the game. Trey Gentry stepped up in Roderick and Gamble’s absence and scored seven points in the first quarter to keep the Rebels competitive.
“He can play. He handles the ball well, he’s explosive, he can get to the bucket, plays his guts out,” Hoese stated.
Bryce Fagan scored six points inside to help Hampton lead 17-12 after one.
The Rebels produced their lowest scoring quarter in the second frame and fell behind 35-22 going into the half. Lucas Couch, Simon Burns, and Will Arrowood scored a bucket each to aid Gentry’s four points.
Gamble’s impact on the floor was made evident in the third quarter. He scored all seven of his points in the third and reeled the Rebels back within three points heading into the fourth. Gavin Dyer started to knock down a few shots and scored eight points, including two triples, to assist Gamble’s scoring. The Rebels scored 21 in the third and held Hampton to their lowest quarter of the contest. The score sat at 46-43 going into the fourth.
Post Cayden Fillers also went down with an injury in the third quarter and did not return to the game either. With the Rebels down two starters and another in foul trouble, it would be hard for them to survive in the fourth with a Hampton team that speeds the game up and forces pressure.
Dyer opened the quarter up with a three to tie it and give South Greene life. But as soon as they tied it, Hampton went on a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach. Dyer and Burns nailed back-to-back threes to cut it to six, but Chase Davenport responded with a triple to keep the margin at an uncomfortable disadvantage for South Greene.
The Rebels couldn’t get any clutch buckets to fall and Hampton continued piling it on for a 71-55 win on their home floor.
“They fought back into it and had a chance. I think we tied it up and went down and had five-straight turnovers in the backcourt and they shot layups. It went from tied to about down 10 in about 30 seconds because we couldn’t get the ball down the court,” Hoese explained.
Chase Davenport led all scorers with 21 points. Bryce Fagan provided 16, Caden Davis had 13, and Tuff Robinson had 11.
Gavin Dyer’s hot second half netted him 14 points. Trey Gentry scored 12.
South Greene faces a short turnaround with a game against Crockett on Saturday night.
