Just call him Mr. Big Shot. Perryville freshman Emarion Hampton has already developed a reputation as a clutch performer. Hampton's short runner banked off the glass and into the basket with six seconds remaining to lift the Panthers to a 43-41 triumph over host Rising Sun Friday afternoon. "I noticed they went 2-3 [zone] the whole game," said Hampton, who also hit a go-ahead three-pointer in a win at Bohemia Manor. "Then on the last play, I don't know why, they spread it out and played man. So I saw there was an opening and just took it."
During a timeout with 15 seconds to go, Perryville coach Chris Johnson knew he wanted the ball in Hampton's hands with Dayvon Montz as another option to take the shot. "I told them to be smart with the time," Johnson said. "We didn't need to rush. I wanted them to spread their defense out a little bit and the idea was to flash Dayvon to the middle. When Dayvon went to flash up he had a step on the defender and they were so worried about Dayvon, nobody went to help [on Hampton]. He got all the way to the backboard and he finished." Rising Sun called a timeout with four ticks remaining, needing to go the length of the court. When the original play didn't materialize, the Tigers took another timeout with one second left. "We had a play designed to get an open look at a three and the team was confused and didn't execute it properly," Rising Sun coach John Walker said. "Pretty much like the whole rest of the game." Following the second time out, Rising Sun had an inbounds play on the sideline 25 feet from the basket. The Tigers tried a lob to Ethan Greene, but Montz knocked the ball away to seal the deal. In addition to tackling the tough task of guarding Greene, Montz provided nine points. "I told Dayvon before the game, 'You're going to have a great game'," said Johnson. "I said, 'Ball. Just go out and ball.' And he did. He played with a lot of confidence and a lot of passion." Hampton had a team-high 16 points for the Panthers, matching Greene for game-high honors. Randy Leonard added eight for the Tigers. Rising Sun took a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter on a Trey Walker basket. The Tigers never trailed in the second quarter and led 23-18 before a Perryville prayer was answered. Ben Roberts buried a shot at the buzzer from 3/4 court to trim the deficit to two at the break. Rising Sun was ahead by eight late in the third quarter, 34-26. After a Perryville free throw, Austin Crouch converted a three-point play to slice the margin to 34-30 entering the fourth quarter. Crouch then knocked down a three-pointer to open the final stanza and make it a one-point game. "I was nervous but I knew we could come back," Hampton said. "We had a solid group in so I knew we could come back." After Kenny Dollenger's runner padded the Tigers' lead back to three, Perryville scored five straight despite making three of seven free throw attempts in that span. The Panthers led for the first time since the opening quarter, 38-36 with 2:46 left. The Tigers weren't finished. Rising Sun responded with its own 5-0 burst on a reverse layup by Greene and three free throws by Mike Fox, the last two with 1:41 to go. Mr. Big Shot had the last word. Hampton drilled a game-tying three-pointer with 1:16 remaining, then delivered the game-winning bucket. "Emarion again stepped up in a critical situation," Johnson said. "No fear. No trepidation. he just took it to the lane and finished it. He did a nice job. He's going to be a heck of a ballplayer." Hampton says his late-game success can be attributed to having faith in himself. "I noticed when I don't play with confidence I don't do really well," he said. "So I just take the shots that I know I can make." The Tigers were haunted by sloppy play on the offensive end. "We didn't play well," Rising Sun coach John Walker said simply. He expounded. "We just weren't ready to play," the Tigers' coach said. "I don't know the reason. We weren't ready to play." Perryville swept the meetings with Rising Sun. "Both games went right down to the wire," Johnson said. "We were just fortunate to hit a couple more shots than they did." The Panthers played without leading scorer Billy Boyer and reserve guards Timmy Clark and Matt O'Neill. "I was really proud," said Johnson. "It was a total team effort. We only dressed eight. Then Greg [Riley] went down so we were down to seven kids. Then Caleb (Robinson) fouled out and we were down to six. It's crazy. I was really happy with how hard the kids played. I thought they played really good defense, especially in the second half." Johnson challenged his squad after a pair of poor performances. "We had a team meeting [Thursday] because we had a couple really tough games in a row," he said. "And I said, 'Guys, I know you're better than this. You know you're better than this. We've got to get back to playing hard and be athletes. We might not be the best shooters. We might not be the best passers. But we are athletes. And I know you're competitive and we know you can play better.' This is a big step. It was nice to get another win. I feel bad for Rising Sun. I know they've been close a couple times." Comments are closed.
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