Going into the third-place girls game of the Sam Moir Basketball Classic Saturday, West Rowan star Hillary Hampton was injured.
Really, she was.
Nobody on Davie County’s side was buying it, however, after watching the super soph tickle the twine for 26 points in a come-from-behind 60-54 victory over the War Eagles.
Hampton certainly looked injured beforehand. She was receiving ultrasound treatment and did more stretching than shooting.
“She’s hard-nosed,” understated coach Toni Wheeler. “She’ll play with injuries. She knows her team needs her.”
Hampton explained afterward that she had fallen during West’s semifinal loss to South Rowan and her back landed on Paris Rucker’s knees.
“It’s a deep bruise,” she reported, “and it hurts. But I had to suck it up and go. I tried to keep it off my mind.”
She didn’t appear to think about anything but keeping the 9-2 Falcons close to a Davie team that had lost the previous night to eventual champion East Rowan in an out-of-sync performance.
In fact, the game became a one-on-one shootout between Hampton and Davie’s Sarah Williams, who shocked the Falcons with a 27-point outing.
“(Williams)didn’t score like that last night,” said Wheeler. “But I knew she could score. We didn’t do a good job of taking away her shot or her drive.”
Eighteen of Williams’ points came in the first half when Davie took a 31-27 lead into halftime. She scored 11 in the second quarter, including seven of her team’s last nine.
“She has developed so many aspects of her game,” praised Davie coach Carol Cozart. “She has that wiggle-worm move under the basket, she can hit threes — she’s playing well.”
Hampton had a respectable 10 in the opening half but caught fire in the third quarter when West rallied from a 38-32 deficit.
She had four points in a 7-0 run that also saw a Mandy Massey rebound bucket and a Natalie Jones free throw. Davie reclaimed the lead at 41-39 but Hampton bombed in a 3-pointer for a 42-41 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
By this time, Cozart was one impressed coach.
“Even though they weren’t tall, they were surely aggressive,” she said.
But so is Davie, a member of the 4A Central Piedmont Conference. Although the War Eagles fell to 5-6, they played well enough to win.
When Williams sank a three to open the fourth, it began a see-saw battle that saw seven lead changes, the last coming when Hampton scored on a drive. That gave West a 55-54 advantage with 90 seconds left.
As the clock ticked under a minute, Davie sophomore Allison Schafer couldn’t convert on a short jumper. Jones, forced to play the post due to injuries, grabbed the rebound and hit a free throw. Brittany Roberson and Hampton each hit two free throws to close out the victory.
Wheeler thought one key to the win was the play of Jones, who finished with 10 points, and Massey, who chipped in with six rebounds.
“She’s scrappy,” Wheeler chuckled. “She gets in there and pushes them around, even as bony as she is. And Massey is coming back around.”
Roberson was also a factor. The 6-foot freshman grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots, while scoring 14.
“West Rowan is a good, solid team,” Cozart said.
A good, solid team that had something to prove.
“We didn’t want to watch the championship game knowing we just got beat,” Hampton said.
“I told them this was a big game we had to win,” Wheeler added. “We had to win for ourselves, our coaches’ mentality and for the fans, to show them that when we lose, we can come back strong.”
And just think. West did everything it set out to do even with its star Hampton injured.
Really, she was.
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NOTES: West was 17-of-34 from the foul line. Hampton and Roberson combined to go 13-of-16 while the rest of the Falcons managed just 4-of-16. ... Williams hit four threes and had six rebounds. ... West opens North Piedmont Conference play next Friday at home against A.L. Brown. ... Davie doesn’t start CPC play until Jan. 11. It goes to Mooresville on Jan. 4.
DAVIE (54) — S. Williams 27, A. Williams 11, Singleton 8, Schafer 4, Walker 2, McDaniel 2, Erb, Merlau, Cornatzer, Khars, Long.
WEST ROWAN (60) — Hampton 26, Roberson 14, Jones 10, Gay 3, White 3, Hartsell 2, Massey 2, Harkey.
Davie 14 17 10 13 — 54
West Rowan 12 15 15 8 — 60
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