RICHMOND, Va. — Just when they thought they were cruising to a state championship, the Hampton Crabbers had to fight to the end and held off Tuscarora of Leesburg 66-63 to win the Class 4 boys state title on Friday from VCU's Siegel Center.
They built a 17 points advantage over the Huskies only to have them come back with a fury. Hampton (26-2) had just enough as they captured the school's sixth state title on Friday, and first since 2012.
"It means everything. We're marking our history", says Crabbers senior guard Malik Johnson. "Every name that's on this team right now, nothing can be taken from them".
Hampton head coach Eric Brown added, "I told them you already had a great year", he said. "You still got to have the cherry on top and they got that cherry and now they're holding that trophy up".
Abraham Taft led the Crabbers with 15 points to go with 7 rebounds, Gavin Kay added 14.