MURFREESBORO — All Hampton needed was a Chance.
With 1:42 to go and coming out of a timeout, Hampton junior Chance Point swished a 3-pointer — his only field goal of the tournament — in front of his own bench to put the Bulldogs up by five.
Point’s bucket was part of a bigger game-ending run that propelled Hampton’s boys basketball team to a massive 51-43 upset of Middleton in Saturday’s TSSAA Class 1A championship game at Murphy Center.
The Bulldogs scored 16 of the game’s last 18 points.
It’s Hampton’s first championship since the famous 1960 “Little Mountain Men” team — coached by TSSAA Hall of Famer Walter “Buck” Van Huss and featuring star players Willie Malone, Jerry White and Glenn “Cotton” Nave — that won the one-classification tournament.
“This one feels awesome and I just want to thank the Lord because he gave us this opportunity to win one,” Hampton coach Ned Smith said.
“We changed our press and we went full court. The kids got some steals and made some big buckets.
“That was not a set play coming out of the timeout, but Chance has got nerves,” Smith added. “That was the biggest shot of his life and he’s not afraid to take chances.”
Middleton (30-2), which had won 25 straight, led by six, 41-35, before the Bulldogs came storming back. A couple of steals and buckets by tournament MVP Cadon Buckles and Hayden Campbell tied the game at 41 with 2:27 to go.
Campbell put the Bulldogs ahead for the first time since late in the third quarter with his jumper in the lane with 2:04 left. After Point’s huge long range shot, the top-ranked Tigers were shell-shocked and made only one more bucket the rest of the way.
“Throughout the first half, their defense was not letting me get to where I wanted to go,” Buckles said. “I tried to distribute the ball more. Late I saw some opportunities to score and I just took what the defense gave me.”
Buckles, a Class 1A Mr. Basketball finalist, netted 18 points, but Campbell was the true X-factor all week. He finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Campbell, a 6-foot-6 junior, established his presence in the paint early and often, taking Middleton center Dantez Young to school on the block.
“(Young) is really tall and really lanky, but he was a defensive liability,” Campbell said. “I saw him as a little bit on the smaller side, and I thought I was a little stronger than him.”
Middleton’s Roderick Robinson Jr. — the 1A Mr. Basketball winner — was frustrated for most of the game. He got going in the third quarter, going on a personal 8-0 run to give the Tigers the lead, but he took only two shots in the fourth.
One was a forced 3-pointer that clanked off the front iron and the other an uncontested layup when the game was already decided. He finished with 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting, eight rebounds and two assists, but he was also responsible for six of his team’s 15 turnovers.
The only other Middleton player to score in double figures was Jordan Stewart, who finished with 10.
“We wanted to keep (Robinson’s) touches down and not let him have it a lot,” Smith said. “Dylan (Trivett) and Chance did a tremendous job on him all night. When he drove, we wanted to double him and the kids did a great job containing him.
“He’s a tremendous player and we just wanted to slow him down.”
The Bulldogs had controlled most of the game, leading by six at the half and holding Robinson scoreless from the field with only two free throws.
Smith’s crew proved once again that offense may sell tickets, but defense does indeed win championships.
“I can’t really find the words to describe this feeling right now,” Campbell said. “I’m in such a shock and everyone in the stands is in such a shock right now, too.”
Saturday’s title came one day shy of the 63rd anniversary of Hampton’s last hardwood state title.
The 459th win of Smith’s career puts him beside only Van Huss in Hampton history to win a state basketball title. Over the past two seasons, both of the schools Van Huss coached — Hampton and Dobyns-Bennett — ended long state title droughts.
In another coincidence, when Hampton defeated Union City in the 1960 finals, it ended the Golden Tornadoes’ 31-game streak.
Maybe the late legendary coach has been watching over his beloved Indians and Bulldogs over the past two seasons.
No one can know, but just maybe.
“I think (Van Huss) and the Lord were watching over us today,” Smith said.
