Photo: Ashley Hampton blasted Merritt Island Christian with 29 points and 17 rebounds to move her team to the final four in Class 1A.OCALA - The Ashley Hampton Express is headed to Lakeland.
The St. John forward and Florida A&M University Lady Rattlers basketball signee continued her postseason onslaught, hanging 29 points and 17 rebounds on second-ranked Merritt Island Christian Saturday night, and moving the Lady Saints into their first-ever Class 1A final four.
Sixth-ranked St. John (22-5) sprinted out to an 11-0 lead and cruised to the 57-45 victory in the 1A-2 region finals. "We're going to state," Hampton said after her fifth straight postseason double-double. "I'm unexplainable excited right now. "For three years we've been getting to the same point . . . but now we've got the determination and the drive, and the chemistry - it always goes back to the chemistry - we're just really lucky to have that."
St. John head coach Kim Pompey-Bell, who also happens to be Hampton's mother, couldn't hide her pride after leading the Saints to the final four in just her second season at the helm.
"It's amazing to watch (Ashley)," Pompey-Bell said. "I've taught her since she was 3-4 years old, so to see her grow and prosper and develop. She's amazing. And she gets better and better every game." "But it's a team effort. (Ashley's) got her talents and so do the other girls. Without the rest of them, she wouldn't be where she is now."
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Kim Pompey-Bell in her prep days was a basketball superstar at Vanguard High School, Ocala and at Division I, University of South Alabama, where she still holds the school record for 3-point shots made. In this case, the apple didn't fall too far from the tree for this blue chip student-athlete carrying a 4.42 grade point average.
