Horns split games on road

The Johnson County basketball team needed its A-game at Hampton on Friday night, and who knows if that would've been enough to triumph on such an emotional night. Hampton was playing its first game in its gym since the damage caused by Hurricane Helene. Further amplifying the electricity was the fact that the Bulldogs dedicated the court to coach Ned Smith prior to the game. Throw in the fact that Hampton was still smarting from a 102-101 loss at Johnson County last month, and the Longhorns were encountering a perfect storm. The moment was too big for the 'Horns. Bryce Fagan paced four double-digit scorers with 21 points and Hampton rolled to an 81-42 victory. "The first game back in their gym, especially since the flood, it was a pretty big deal for that whole community," Johnson County coach Ethan Harmon said, "not just from a basketball standpoint, which they obviously care about, but just the community as a whole. The court was being dedicated to the coach and it was the first game back there. You could feel it – leading up to game day – that it was going to be a hostile environment. I mean, I would probably say it was a substate type of atmosphere. … "They were playing for a lot of different reasons on top of us getting the best of 'em the first time. It was gonna take our best performance from everybody, and we didn't show up. I'll take the blame for that." Landin Lipford led the Longhorns with 13 points. Carson Jennings and Darren Chappell added seven apiece. "We missed a lot of shots, especially in the paint, that we usually hit," Harmon said. "I think we shot 32 percent from two. And we lost the turnover battle and the rebound battle. I didn't have the guys prepared well enough for what they were walking into." Johnson County began the week with a 73-62 win at Cornerstone Christian in Abingdon on Tuesday. Lipford paced five double-figure scorers with 17 points. Jennings (16), Ethan Smith (15), Hunter Paisley (13) and Dylan Warren (12) also scored in double figures. "We had a very big collective effort in that one," Harmon said. "I think balanced teams are the best high school teams, because it's hard to game-plan for multiple guys who can hurt you." Guard Drew Roop led Cornerstone Christian with 33 points. "The point guard is really good," Harmon said. "He had 33 on us, and he was tough for us to stop." Johnson County were to host Cloudland on Monday. District games at Chuckey-Doak and at home against West Greene were scheduled for Tuesday and Friday, respectively. Harmon, who played in high school at North Greene, said Chuckey-Doak is always a difficult place to win against veteran coach Sam Broyles. Harmon said he's also impressed with the job West Greene coach Allen Tolliver does, a task made easier by having a big man such as Ayden Lamons. "We're gonna have to play well to defend home court," Harmon said. "We'll have to execute to the best of our abilities. I think it's gonna end up being a dogfight, really, between two through six in this district." Harmon remains confident his team, which added Darren Chappell and Avery Jones to the rotation when they became available recently, will jell for a strong finish. "I kind of had a conversation with a couple of 'em today (Sunday)," Harmon said. "Basketball's a funny sport; all of the sudden things will start clicking, and that's a different point in time for every team. Some teams click from the very beginning. Some teams click at Christmas. Some teams may not click until they get all the way to the district tournament. "I think our guys are showing up. I think we're continuing to put our nose to the grindstone. I don't know when it's gonna happen and none of them know when it's gonna happen, but it will happen. And when it does, we're gonna get the wheels turning and we're gonna be a problem. I do still believe that."