North Surprises Hampton; Earns First District Title Shot Since 1982
by BRYAN MOORE
TriCitiesSports.com
February 17, 2018
GRAY--The Sullivan North boys basketball team is on the verge of making a little history and reclaiming the glory days of the school’s once-storied program.
The Golden Raiders' solid team effort overcame an outstanding 31-point shooting performance from Hampton's Dru Owens to defeat the Bulldogs 62-58 Saturday night to advance to the finals of the District 1-A tournament at Bobby Snyder Gymnasium at Daniel Boone High School.
North will look to capture the school's first boys district title since 1982 when the great Raider teams anchored by Granville Arnold and coached by John McCrary last hoisted the trophy.
Owens was Hampton's big gun. But he was no match for the combined brilliance of North's multifaceted attack--once again spearheaded by its seniors.
"The boys played really great again," said Raiders coach Travis Cain. "Matt Burk, Thomas Brown, and Justin Cross all had a lot of points and played big minutes for us. They played as a team. Blake Spradlin was back from the flu and he gave us some minutes in spite of being sick."
"Yancey Dolen and Dale Potter played some big minutes for us. Our coaches—Coach Clark, Coach Arnold, Coach Hinshaw—really helped us this week. They did a lot of good things."
Just as they had done in their first round victory over Cloudland, the Raiders went inside to Cross early on and the 6-foot-5 center responded with six points in the first quarter.
Fellow seniors Matt Burk and Peyton Robinson came through with 3-pointers as North jumped out to an 18-13 advantage after one period.
Brown nailed a trey and Potter came of the bench and canned a 3-pointer of his own while Owens began to catch fire for Hampton, scoring 9 points in the second quarter.
But North (16-13) was up 35-29 at halftime with Cross leading the way for the Raiders with 10 points.
Owens came out on a tear in the second half. He burned the nets with 4 3-pointers and Jonah Jones added another trey as Hampton outscored North 17-7 in the third quarter and grabbed a 46-42 lead going into the fourth quarter.
But when the game was on the line, the Raiders stepped up and seized control.
"They went on a big run there in the third quarter, about a 12 to 14 point run," Cain explained. "They took the lead in the third. But we battled back. We didn't quit. Just kept playing and made some plays and got the win.”
And it was Brown, Burk, and Cross who took over down the stretch. The senior point guard got six points. Burk drained two treys. And Cross added six points in the paint as North outscored the Bulldogs 20-12 in the fourth quarter and sealed the victory.
Cross paced the Raiders with 16 points while Burk scored 15 and Brown added 12. Owens was the only Hampton player in double figures with 31 points.
“The key tonight was trying to keep Owens from beating us,” noted Cain. “And Owens still had 31points. That number two can really shoot the ball. We knew it would be a game of runs. We told them that and we had to keep our composure and keep playing.”
North will face North Greene--who beat the Raiders twice during the regular season-- in the District 1-A championship contest Tuesday night at 7:30 at Daniel Boone.
They will have the chance to do something no Raider team has done in 36 years...win a district title and host a playoff game in the regional tournament.
"We’ve come a real long way in one year,” Cain added. “The guys who are still with us who really bought into it and they’re playing together as a family. We preach about being a family all the time.”
“They’ve really bought in and are playing well. All the credit goes to them.”
NORTH (16-13) -- Thomas Brown 3 5-6 12, Matt Burk 6 0-0 15, Robinson 2 2-3 7, Spradlin 3 1-1 8, Lovelace 0 0-0 0, Potter 1 0-0 3, Dolen 0 1-2 1, Justin Cross 8 0-3 16. Totals: 23 9-15 62.
HAMPTON (17-12) -- Livingston 1 0-0 2, Dru Owens 11 2-6 31, Jones 1 0-0 3, Bently 3 0-0 7, Davenport 4 0-0 8, Hardin 3 1-2 7. Totals: 23 3-8 58.
Sullivan North | 18 | 17 | 7 | 20 | -- 62 |
Hampton | 13 | 16 | 17 | 12 | -- 58 |
Three-Pointers -- Sullivan North 6 (Burk 3, Brown, Spradlin, Potter); Hampton 9 (Owens 7, Jones, Bently).