ERWIN – Chuckey-Doak fought tooth-and-nail with a scrappy Hampton team, but ultimately came up just short in a 59-55 loss in Monday’s District 1-2A Championship Game at Unicoi County High School.
After Hampton’s regular season sweep with an average winning margin of nine points a lot of people probably didn’t expect Chuckey-Doak to stay with them all game. The lead grew to ten in the first minutes, but never reached larger than that for the rest of the game. The lead changed multiple times in the second and third, but Hampton stole the lead back at the end of the third and never let go of it.
The Lady Black Knights had two chances late in the fourth to tie or take the lead, but failed to score on both possessions and were left questioning what could’ve been.
“Just proud of my girls. We said all along we knew we could play with them. We knew we couldn’t get behind early and we did that. It was a back-and-forth game with two great teams,” Chuckey-Doak’s Head Coach Kyle Donahue stated.
Kennedy Brown shined bright on the big stage and poured in a 25-point performance to lead all scorers. Her ability to score quick and counter Hampton’s quick scoring paid dividends in the end. “She was making shots early and we fed off that energy,” Donahue mentioned.
Chuckey-Doak’s game plan to match Hampton’s tempo and style of play worked to counteract their press. They were able to flip the script on them at multiple points in the game and took advantage with a few short-lived leads.
“Their m-o is to press and when they get turnovers off the press, they run it back for points so we made sure we were efficient in that press break. We got to where we needed to with points and we were looking for each other and finding the hot hand and I thought that worked really well for us,” Coach Donahue explained.
By making it to the title game, Chuckey-Doak will host Friday night’s Region 1-2A quarterfinal game in Lower Afton. They will host Pigeon Forge.
Hampton ends their two-year run in Class 2A as back-to-back District Champs.
They started fast and immediately took an 9-1 lead. Ella Estep was responsible for six points with three layups. Kennedy Brown’s ability to fire off quick shots kept them from reaching deep waters early. She hit a quick mid-range and quick baseline layup. She finished the first with 10 of Chuckey-Doak’s 13 points.
They trailed 17-13 after eight minutes.
Piper Helle scored four-straight for Hampton and pushed the margin to seven before the Lady Knights started chipping away. Brown and Estep traded layups before Layla Fox scored six-straight for Chuckey-Doak. All three shots came in the mid-range area. Brown scored the next three with a free throw and transition layup to tie the game at 25-25.
Saniah Atchison’s big and-one handed Chuckey-Doak a 28-27 lead in the closing stages of the second. Brea Hicks managed to score a layup before the half ended to put Hampton back ahead 31-30 heading into the break.
The Southerland Sisters worked together to score 11 of 13 third-quarter points. They scored the first 11 and helped them reach as much as a five-point lead. Tralyn scored nine and Tavyn scored the first two of the half. They led 39-34 after Tralyn’s and-one play.
“We knew that if we could get to playing our style that we would have a shot. A couple possessions here and there sway the game and that happens,” Coach Donahue said.
Brea Hicks knocked down a three to keep Hampton alive and Ella Estep cut the lead to one with three-straight from the free-throw line and off the glass. Brown buried a baseline floater to go up by three until Hannah Smith tied it with a triple. Smith’s three snowballed into a 7-0 Hampton run. Hicks hit a three next and Jenkins banked a layup.
Hampton pulled back out to a five-point 48-43 lead going into the fourth.
A few big shots by Hicks and Smith mounted the lead to eight points early in the frame. After a timeout by Coach Donahue, the Lady Knights came storming back.
Kennedy Brown was fouled and made both foul shots then landed a spinning layup in the paint to make it a four-point game. With around three minutes left Hampton attempted to hold the ball and waste time to keep it out of their hands. Jayden Myers had other plans and ripped the ball away and set up Layla Fox with a fastbreak layup to make it 55-53 with 2:45 left.
Hampton wanted to waste more clock until a five-second turnover gave Chuckey-Doak a chance to tie or take the lead. Saniah Atchison drove hard into the paint and made a layup through hard contact, but the contact was caused by her and the officials ruled a charge to negate the layup.
After being forced to foul, Hannah Smith only made 1-of-2 from the line and left the door open. The rebound on the miss was pinballed around until it ended in a jump ball scenario. The possession arrow pointed to Hampton. Just like before, Hampton’s attempt to hold the ball ended in a turnover with a steal by Tavyn Southerland. On offense she would take the ball to the rack and put up a contested layup, but couldn’t get it to fall or get a whistle.
After Smith was fouled and hit two free throws, Kennedy Brown made a layup with 0.8 left and made it 58-55. A timeout was called to hope for a steal and miracle three.
The ending of the game created confusion all around as Hampton’s clever inbounds play drew a technical foul. The Lady Bulldogs had one player run from inbounds to out of bounds to get the ball and become the in bounder. When that happened, the ball was tipped while still technically out of bounds and warranted a technical.
After the dust settled, Hampton regained the crown and became back-to-back District 1-2A Champions with a 59-55 win.
“It came down to a couple possessions that they made and we didn’t make,” Donahue stated.
Kennedy Brown scored a game-high 25 points for Chuckey-Doak. Tralyn Southerland added 12 points and Layla Fox had 10.
Brown, Tralyn Southerland, and Atchison were named to both the All-Tournament and All-Conference teams. Tavyn Southerland was selected to the All-Conference team.
Hampton put four players in double figures. Hannah Smith and Brea Hicks both scored 13, Piper Helle had 12, and Ella Estep with 11.
Chuckey-Doak is set to host Pigeon Forge in the Region 1-2A quarterfinals on Friday.
All-Conference Team
Piper Helle – Hampton
Hannah Smith – Hampton
Brea Hicks – Hampton
Faye Carrico – Hampton
Kennedy Brown – Chuckey-Doak
Tralyn Southerland – Chuckey-Doak
Tavyn Southerland – Chuckey-Doak
Saniah Atchison – Chuckey-Doak
Morgan Brown – West Greene
Joie Shipley – West Greene
Emily Justis – West Greene
Payton Norton – West Greene
Kortnei Bailey – South Greene
Ari Hoese – South Greene
Natalie Foshie – South Greene
Adrey Shaw – Johnson County
Mackenzie McClain – Johnson County
Cayden Anderson – Happy Valley
All-Tournament Team
Piper Helle – Hampton (MVP)
Hannah Smith – Hampton
Brea Hicks – Hampton
Faye Carrico – Hampton
Kennedy Brown – Chuckey-Doak
Tralyn Southerland – Chuckey-Doak
Saniah Atchison – Chuckey-Doak
Kortnei Bailey – South Greene
Natalie Foshie – South Greene
Cayden Anderson – Happy Valley
Season Awards
Player of the Year – Morgan Brown (West Greene)
Defensive Player of the Year – Cayden Anderson (Happy Valley)
Underclassmen of the Year – Mackenzie McClain (Johnson County)
Coach of the Year – Betsy Shaw (West Greene)
