Athens hands Hazel Green first loss

Published 4:29 pm Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The last time Hazel Green’s girls basketball team lost was in the Class 7A state championship game in March 2016.

That all changed Tuesday when Athens beat nationally ranked Hazel Green 52-49 in front of a packed house at the Athens gymnasium.

“It was packed and it was loud. I don’t know what everybody was saying, but it was loud,” said Athens head coach Eddie Murphree. “We appreciate all the support. I think the people that came out tonight got their money’s worth.”

Buoyed by the boisterous home crowd, Athens jumped out to a 17-8 first-quarter lead. After Hazel Green pulled within one point at halftime, AHS led 40-36 entering the fourth quarter.

During the third quarter, Athens shut out every Hazel Green player except Brooke Hampel, who scored 11 points in the third period alone. Hampel finished with a game-high 30 points.

Athens improved to 19-2.

“They have great players, a great tradition and a great coaching staff,” said Murphree. “We have a tremendous amount of respect for them, but I just can’t say enough about the girls we have here.”

Hazel Green entered the game undefeated and ranked 16th nationally by MaxPreps and the No. 2 team in Class 6A with several Division I prospects, but it was the Athens players who stole the show.

Japera Harris put her team up by five with 1:27 remaining, but Hampel answered with a quick 3-pointer to pull Hazel Green within two. Following back-to-back defensive stops by Athens, Hazel Green had one last chance, but Harris stole the inbound pass and was immediately fouled with six seconds remaining.

“She brings effort every night,” said Murphree about Harris. “Our offensive game stepped up a little more tonight. Her MO is defense and sprinting the floor. She will probably run track in college, but she has polished her game up and it really helped us tonight.”

Harris finished with a team-high 21 points while Alexis Woods scored 16 and Tionna Moore had 11 points. Caitlin Hose, who led Hazel Green in scoring the last time the teams played, was held to eight points.

“I give them credit for hitting some shots and disrupting us a little bit,” said Hazel Green head coach Tim Miller. “We are a possession-shooting team. We shot one of 17 from the 3-point line tonight. You aren’t going to win many games shooting that way. I knew this game was coming eventually. They made a few more shots than we did. That was the difference in the basketball game.”

Athens travels to Florence Friday for another area game.