ROMNEY, W.Va. — Hampshire came out stronger than Allegany, and it finished stronger to pull away in the end.
The Trojans began the game with a 14-0 run, and they repeated the feat in the fourth to rout the Campers, 54-31, on Tuesday night behind a team-high 16 points from Carder Monroe.
“Overall I’m happy,” Hampshire head coach Danny Alkire said. “We were stagnant the other night with East Fairmont, so I’m happy the guys came out. I didn’t even talk to them pregame, I just wanted to see how they came out on their own, how they responded, and I’m super excited with the way we started the game off.”
Hampshire bounced back from a 49-39 defeat to East Fairmont to improve to 2-1 ahead of a home matchup with two-time defending area champion Fort Hill on Friday.
Allegany fell to 0-3, losing all three by double digits. The Campers pulled to within 24-19 late in the second quarter, but Hampshire used its defense and second-chance opportunities to pull away in the second half.
Allegany was within 40-29 in the fourth before back-to-back 3-pointers by Trenton Timbrook, who finished with 11 points, sparked a 14-0 run that iced the game.
“We improved on some stuff,” Allegany first-year head coach Brandon Reed said. “I know it’s hard to believe. We’re just not getting the little stuff right. We aren’t finding our man right now. We just aren’t very good at man defense. We aren’t very good at rebounding.
“We aren’t going to have success until we improve on that.”
Allegany’s offense flowed through Chris Manherz, who equalled Monroe for a game-high 16 points, but he was the lone scorer with more than four points. Devin Tinnen added four points and six rebounds.
The Campers didn’t record their first points until an Owen Rice 3-pointer at the 3:52 mark of the first quarter.
Manherz added a 3 to cut Hampshire’s lead to 16-6 after a quarter, and the Campers pulled within five points after Michael Cannon’s trey with a minute to play in the half.
Monroe made a put-back on the other end for a 26-19 Hampshire lead, and it proved to be a harbinger of what was to come in the second half.
The Trojans crashed the boards after intermission, taking advantage of Allegany’s struggles to box out as the Campers were forced to play a 2-3 zone.
“They played well inside,” Alkire said. “I’m just overall proud of what the guys did tonight.”
Manherz made an off-balance 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to lower Hampshire’s margin to 40-26, and that’s when Monroe took over.
The Trojans’ forward tallied eight points and Timbrook hit two of his three treys in the fourth. Hampshire led by as many as 25 points.
Hampshire drilled seven 3-pointers. Matt Medina made two, part of his 10 points, and Izaiah Thorpe also finished in double figures with 10.
“We weren’t settling for shots (against East Fairmont), but they were forced shots,” Alkire said. “Just kick, take what the defense gives you. They bought into it tonight, and we were hitting 3s.”
Hampshire won the junior varsity game 44-39. The Trojans had 11 different players score, led by Channing Wilt with 10 points.
Allegany’s JVs had three double-figure scorers in Cole Ricker (13), Cade Bauer (10) and Trevin Cox (10).
Hampshire welcomes Allegany’s crosstown rival Fort Hill on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Campers will hope their return to the friendly confines of Haystack Mountain yield better results when they host Northern on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“Credit to Hampshire. They played physical, they beat us up inside,” Reed said. “Every point we scored we earned today. We just gotta make sure that we come ready to play.”