1 week Ago By By ANDREW SMITH [email protected]
Hampton guard Piper Helle came into the season knowing that expectations would be raised for her. A four-year starter in the backcourt, Helle was coming off of a year where she averaged nine points, five assists, four rebounds, and four steals per game. “Piper makes us go,” Hampton head coach Dewayne Humphrey said in the preseason.
“She is a great leader on the court. She has a high basketball IQ.” Both herself and the Lady Bulldogs would be tested in their season-opener, as 2A Hampton played host to 3A Tennessee High.
Hampton won the contest 56-51, largely behind Helle. The senior put up 13 points on 50 percent shooting, while also grabbing five rebounds and assisting on four Lady Bulldog makes. She also made one of the most important shots of the night, a 3-pointer with under four minutes to go, quelling a late Tennessee High rally.
Helle said the outing provided just the boost she was looking for. “Honestly, I think it was just a great start to a season,” she said. “It gets me pumped up to play my senior year, something I have been excited for for four years.
” The road to get to the season-opener was a unique one for Helle and the Hampton community. After September’s flooding damaged Hampton High School, both basketball teams were in search of a new venue to practice and play for the 2024-25 school year, as well as to continue studies. While the student body eventually settled into the old Keenburg Elementary building as a temporary home, the hoops teams for Hampton still needed to find a suitable hardwood host.
They got that in the Hampton Elementary gymnasium, which already plays host to Bulldogs’ middle school and youth club teams. Humphrey said with so much of his roster growing up playing there, he feels comfortable about what his team can accomplish. “This is home for us,” he said.
“They played middle school ball here. This is their second home. And we’re going make it as hard for people to play here as possible.
It’s going to be a great atmosphere. We’re going to fill these stands and it’s going to be loud. It’s going to be a good advantage.
” Helle added that with the gym being a shared facility, the team has to be locked in each time they step on the floor. “It’s definitely been different,” Helle said. “When you come into this gym, you really have to focus on getting shots up because the rims are a little bit different.
And then, because the gym isn’t available all of the time, we have to practice in other places. So when we get in here, we really have to work.” The next opportunity for Helle and Hampton to showcase that work will be on Thursday night at Sullivan East.
They will be back at home on Saturday against Daniel Boone..
