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[kennedy]

Hampton girls win in struggle

By Jason Jordan

NEWPORT NEWS — Hampton High guard Tiffany Davis has been learning lessons all season, so when the Crabbers headed over to Woodside on Friday, Davis wasn’t looking to get the annual wake-up call that the Wolverines have given the Crabbers for the last two years.
"They’ve been the one team that beat us in the regular season for the last two years," Davis said. "So we knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew we were going to have to go even harder."
Davis scored a game-high 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and came up with four steals to lead Hampton past Woodside 53-46.
"Woodside is a good team," Davis said. "We had to prepare this week and come out and play together as a whole. A win is a win."
Coach David Six added: "When the expectations are high on your team, you don’t need to put extra pressure on your team by saying we’ve got to win by 30. We just needed to win."
Davis and Alyssa Bennett combined to score Hampton’s first 11 points, and the Crabbers forced five first-quarter turnovers to take an 11-5 lead with 2:16 left in the first quarter.
Talaya Lynch hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to extend the Crabbers’ lead to 18-11 with 3:08 left in the half. Then Kenyatta Sears went to the same spot and drained another 3-pointer to give Hampton a 23-15 lead with just more than a minute left in the half.
Hampton led 27-16 at halftime.
"We want to make people play our game," Davis said. "We try to play fast-paced, but by Woodside slowing down the pace, we had to adjust and try and force turnovers."
Debbie Smith caught fire late in the fourth quarter, knocking down two deep 3-pointers to give Hampton breathing room, 46-35, with 2:51 left.
That’s when Woodside made an 8-2 run, capped by Bridjette Parker’s short jumper with 54 seconds left to play, cutting the lead to 48-43.
The Crabbers went 5-for-8 from the free-throw line from that point to secure the win.
Woodside coach Mike Tallon said that his team bought into the "Hampton aura" — facing a team ranked No. 4 in the country and with seven consecutive PD tournament titles.
"These kids are so used to them dominating, they think that’s the way it’s supposed to be," Tallon said. "We were really sloppy. We just didn’t play well at all tonight."
Six shared those sentiments about his team.
"We didn’t play particularly well," Six said. "We had a few calls go against us and that took away our aggressiveness. But we have to work on our chemistry. That’s a real issue for us."
Now the Crabbers will prepare for Tuesday’s much-anticipated matchup against Heritage.
"All of the games are fun, but we’ve got a rivalry with Heritage," said Bennett, who scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. "We will have to play better all around, but it should be fun."

[GLYMONT]

Great game from Woodside. The Wolverines don't have the talent that some of the other PD teams, but he out coaches everyone he plays.

[phantom_aggie]

Coach Tallon has always been a great coach. Remember when he used to DOMINATE at Phoebus back in the 80's and 1990's?

[GLYMONT]

Originally Posted by phantom_aggie

Coach Tallon has always been a great coach. Remember when he used to DOMINATE at Phoebus back in the 80's and 1990's?

How could I possibly forget. I've Known Mike for 31 years. I've watched his teams practice, Phoebus and Woodside, for many years. No one does it better, with less talent.

[sportzfan]

Thats a coach with integrity keep working the girls they will peak when the time comes. Two tough losses back to back but it will have them in good shape come tournament time. The bethel girls are coming along also they have a press just like the crabbers and they hustle.

[twiceasnice757]

Tallon is the best around-PERIOD.. Heritage and Hampton were on the verge of pulling away from the Wolverines in both games, Tallon made some adjustments and Gardner and Six failed to thus allowing the Wolverines to be in it at the end..Woodside had a tough week, playing two of the better teams in the area w/in 4 days, but it will only make them stronger come tournament time

[Beach District est 1976]

Originally Posted by twiceasnice757

Tallon is the best around-PERIOD.. Heritage and Hampton were on the verge of pulling away from the Wolverines in both games, Tallon made some adjustments and Gardner and Six failed to thus allowing the Wolverines to be in it at the end..Woodside had a tough week, playing two of the better teams in the area w/in 4 days, but it will only make them stronger come tournament time

You can include Larry Bowman as well.