Hampton Lady Crabbers Head Basketball Coach Shanda Bailey chats after her team's thrilling 77-73 victory over reigning State Champion Lake Taylor in the Region 4A Girls Hoops Tournament semifinals on Thursday, February 27, 2020.

Leading the way for Hampton with 27 points and 12 rebounds was junior forward Danielle McTeer, a Brown University commit with a 4.56 GPA. Sophomore Jayla Hearp, the Peninsula District Player of the Year for the second straight season, converted a crucial three-point play with two minutes to go in regulation to give Hampton a 71-64 lead. Hearp added 15 points and seven rebounds.

Lake Taylor, which won its fourth state title under Head Coach Saundra Sawyer last March, was led by junior guard JaNaiya 'J.J.' Quinerly, who scored 28 points. Seeded fifth for the tourney, the Lady Titans finished 16-6 overall.

A year ago, Hampton was in Class 5 and reached the State Tournament, falling to Highland Springs in the quarterfinals after finishing as the Region 5A runner-up to Princess Anne, which is pursuing its seventh straight state title this year. But Hampton moved down a classification to Class 4 this season, adding to a loaded bracket that featured eight squads in the region with at least 15 wins.

Now 23-1 overall this season, the Lady Crabbers have punched their ticket to the 2020 VHSL State Basketball Tournament. They will take on Grafton, which eliminated King's Fork in the regional semifinals, for the Region 4A Girls Championship at 6 PM at King's Fork High School in Suffolk on Friday, February 28th.

A region title for Hampton would also have them playing locally in the State Tournament quarterfinals held at Norfolk State University on Friday, March 13th against the Region 4B Tournament runner-up.

The two representatives for Region 4B have yet to be determined as King George will play Hanover in one semifinal on Friday night, while Monacan faces Eastern View. Their regional title will be decided on Monday, March 2nd.