The Hobbton Wildcats and the Midway Raiders tangled on the basketball court Friday night with Midway coming away with a 67-52 win for the Raider boys.

The Raiders jumped out to 10-point lead, 18-8, in the first quarter but the Wildcats closed the margin to 3 by the half. Midway had a 30-27 lead. Early in the third quarter, the Wildcats tied it at 30 and than again at 32 before the Raiders got it back together and began to pull away. They had a 43-36 lead after 3 quarters of play. In the final period, the Raiders pulled away again for the finals.

Raider coach Matthew Creech said, “Two teams battling it out. Any time there is a county rivalry, you are going to see a lot of scrappiness, a lot of heart. I thought we both show flashes of 2 really good ball clubs. At other times, we both stunk. We are proud of the plays we were able to make in the second half to pull away and glad to be 3-0.”

Wildcat coach Alfonso Hooper said, “It was a tough ball game tonight. I think we came out a little bit flat in the first quarter. Midway’s half-court trap bothered us some. In the second half we settled down and started playing a bit better. In the second quarter I told the guys to be more aggressive going to the basket and we started getting some fouls. We played better the second half but the key to the game was all those free throws we left on the table. We had too many turnovers and too many free throws missed. I’m proud that my guys didn’t quit. We played to the end.”

The Wildcats host Union Tuesday and travel to Midway Friday.

For the Raiders, Dariuss Perez led the scoring with 20 points. Paris Smith chipped in 17 and Michael Kramer and Shyheim Small had 8 each. For the Wildcats, Hunter Britt and Jason Scrivner had 12, Collin King had 13.

By David Johnson

Sports Writer

Midway’s Paris Smith gets up over Hobbton’s Hunter Britt for 2 points
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Paris-Smith1.jpgMidway’s Paris Smith gets up over Hobbton’s Hunter Britt for 2 points