CUMBERLAND — When Allegany needed a bucket, the formula was simple: Attack the basket, hit the boards and profit.
The unbeaten Campers went back to their bread and butter after Hampshire clawed to within 33-30 following an Ethan Vanmeter 3-pointer in the third quarter.
Isaiah Fields, Dylan Shaffer and company drove to the hoop, and Zach Michael was there to clean up. The result was a 10-0 run to cushion their margin, and the Campers used an 8-0 flurry in the fourth to pull away for good.
Top-ranked Allegany is still finding its footing early in the season, but behind a combined 46 points from Fields and Michael and a 35-26 rebounding edge, the Campers toppled Hampshire, 69-55, on Tuesday night to improve to 4-0.
Hampshire fell to 2-3.
“I knew it was going to be a tough game tonight. It always is with Hampshire,” Allegany head coach Tedd Eirich said. “We go through spurts where we look so darn good for a few minutes, and then we go through spurts that we look like we’ve never played basketball before.”
Often-times, the Jekyll and Hyde versions of the Campers appear in the same quarters.
Allegany used a 10-2 burst — all in the paint — to take its first double-digit lead at 28-18 with 2:20 left in the opening half, but Hampshire closed with an 9-3 flurry, capped by a Vanmeter 3-pointer, to trail 31-27 at the break.
Then, following Vanmeter’s early trey in the third quarter, the Campers scored 10 straight points and built a 47-33 advantage before Hampshire ended the period with an 8-2 run.
With a 50-43 advantage early in the fourth quarter, Allegany blew the game open with eight straight points to go up by 15, and Hampshire never made it a single-digit game again.
Eirich pointed to turnovers and defensive rebounding as areas Allegany has to improve. The Campers had 19 giveaways and Hampshire had 12 offensive rebounds.
“Next thing you know we’re up 16, the pace is frenetic, and we have to have one of our guards stop and take control and take charge out there to make sure we aren’t coming down and doing silly things,” said the Allegany coach, who won his 390th career game.
For Allegany to play as sloppy as it did and win by 14, it shows just how dominant the Campers were in all over facets.
Michael was a force down low, scoring 28 points and pulling down 12 rebounds for a double-double.
The slashing Fields added 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, Shaffer scored 12 points, and Dae Dae Smith added six points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Allegany was also efficient at the charity stripe, making 22 of 28 attempts — Fields made 8 of 10, Michael was 6 for 8 and Smith converted all four of his tries.
Hampshire gave the Campers trouble early with its 1-2-1-1 fullcourt press, and guard Jenson Fields ignited at the onset with 11 first-quarter points and 15 before halftime — he finished with a game-high 29.
The Trojans were within range down 18-13 after the first quarter, four points at the half and three early in the third but had no answer once Fields and Michael decided to attack the rim.
Hampshire coach Danny Alkire took the blame for the loss, saying he should’ve prepared his team better from what he saw on film.
“It was hard to tell the quickness of (Isaiah) Fields (on film),” he said. “His Euro step over the top finish right hand on the left side, he did that numerous times this season.
“Driving down, usually we don’t want to sag, we want to prevent the kick out to the three. With someone of his caliber getting out and doing that, I was hoping we’d slide in and get some charges.
“I didn’t have them ready for that. On the boxing out, we’re going to drill that out. … (Michael) did a great job setting up camp at the basket. He’s a big boy, but we didn’t even get our body on him a lot of times.”
Hampshire was also called for 24 fouls to Allegany’s 15 and attempted 11 fewer free throws.
“They were calling it tight, which is fine, but we have to adapt to that,” Alkire said. “I just don’t think we adapted to how the game flow was and how it was being played.”
Vanmeter joined Jenson Fields in double figures with 13 points, drilling a trio of 3-pointers. No other Hampshire player scored more than three points. The Trojans were 11 for 17 from the line — Fields made 8 of 9 from that range.
Both teams left Tuesday with something to improve upon, and Hampshire will get its next crack at getting into the win column on Friday against Lewis County.
Allegany will try to stay perfect at home against Berkeley Springs on Thursday at 6 p.m.
“We’re going to just keep getting better, and hopefully the kids see things like we do and try to fix (those mistakes),” Eirich said.
In the junior varsity game, Allegany won 49-34. Chris Manherz (19 points) and Devin Tinnen (12) topped the Campers, and Mason Wolford (13) led the way for the Trojans.