Clinton’s Evan Gillespie, No. 4, takes the ball up the court after a rebound, as Hobbton’s Katie Britt, No. 5, is in pursuit. Janiyah Simmons, No. 14, is down on the court after contact on the rebound attempt and teammate Ciara Stuart, No. 3, moves in to help her up.
Brandt Young|Sampson Independent
Lady Horses trample Lady ‘Cats
Wildcat Izzy Hepworth, No. 15, watches with anticipation as she moves the ball to a teammate and Dark Horse Rubi Davila, No. 10, eyes the pass while on defense.
Brandt Young|Sampson Independent
Hobbton’s Katie Britt, No. 5, tries to get the ball to a fellow Wildcat, but Clinton’s Rubi Davila, No. 10, gets a hand on it to thwart the attempt.
Brandt Young|Sampson Independent
Dark Horse Janiyah Simmons, No. 14, moves the ball down the court on a fast break, as Hobbton’s Miley McLamb looks to cut her off to the basket, while Clinton’s Rubi Davila, No. 10, also moves down the court with the action.
Brandt Young|Sampson Independent
In a one-sided affair Monday night, the Clinton Lady Dark Horses took down the visiting Hobbton Lady Wildcats, 66-6, in a game marked by smothering defense and forced errors.
Ciara Stuart won the tip off for the Lady Horses, who got it to Davila, who gave it straight back to Stuart. A defensive foul was called on Hobbton’s Katie Britt on Stuart’s shot, and she opened up scoring by making one of her two free throws.
A tight full court defense came from the Dark Horses, and two consecutive steals on the inbound passes garnered four points from the hand of Davila and Evan Gillespie. Davila picked up her first foul with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter, and Cassie Driver picked one up for Hobbton early too.
The Lady ‘Cats still looked for their first points with under six minutes remaining in the opening period, as Clinton’s defense was unrelenting and punishing any mistake.
Clinton picked off a Hobbton pass and nearly went coast-to-coast for another Davila layup, but the pass was bobbled and a jump ball was called. Hobbton signaled for their first timeout with 5:10 remaining in the first, as they were still scoreless and Clinton held their 5-0 lead.
Unforced errors started to come Hobbton’s way at this point, with the ball often landing out of bounds at the hands of the Wildcats. Madison Sinclair finally got them on the board with just under five minutes to go, as she sank a three point attempt.
Jayla Pickett retaliated shortly after, with a jump shot of her own, and Clinton maintained the 7-3 advantage. Phoenix Everett added to this with a three pointer of her own, and the Horses now had a 10-3 lead in the waning moments of the first quarter.
Clinton’s Janiya Mosley stifled a pass from Miley McLamb with her blanketing defense, and took the ball down the court for the layup. She went 0-2 on her free throws after being fouled, with the last bouncing around on the rim before barely slipping out.
McLamb grabbed a steal of her own, and Clinton knocked it out as she brought it to the front court. After the inbound pass, Stuart came up with another steal and took it to the other for a layup, making it a 12-3 lead for the home team with just over 2:30 to play.
Giana Smith got the assist to Stuart after a steal, and Everett added four more points on back-to-back steals by the Horses. They grabbed the 18-3 lead on the second shot.
Everett found herself at the charity stripe again, where she sank both shots. Clinton lead after this, 20-3. Davila banked in three more from behind the arc, which opened their lead to 20 points. Hobbton had yet to score since their first three points came early in the quarter.
The Dark Horses opened up scoring in the second with another Davila layup, making it now a 25-3 game.
The Wildcats were able to slow things down a bit defensively, as they stopped Clinton from scoring on consecutive possessions until Stuart, Everett, and Davila got three steals in a row. Everett and Stuart each sank their shots, but an offensive foul was called on Davila’s drive to the hoop, and possession was given to the Wildcats. The score sat at 31-3 with 4:30 remaining in the second period.
Jianna Pickett snagged a steal and got the assist on an Everett bucket, which extended the lead to 30 points, and prompted a timeout from the visiting Wildcats.
Janiya Mosley grabbed two more steals for the Horses due to their full court defense, and she took it down the court herself and scored both times. Everett added in another point from the line, and Davila got a breakaway layup to add two more. Things got even further out of hand for Hobbton as they now trailed 40-3 with 2:10 to go in the half.
Britt led the Wildcats when she was on the floor, bringing the ball up each time, but they couldn’t get an offense set up against the brick wall that was the Horses’ defense. Multiple forced and unforced errors came their way, taking any opportunity for a shot away. When they did get a shot, they couldn’t find their mark.
The half ended with Clinton taking the commanding lead, 47-3 over the Wildcats.
The Dark Horses once more added points at the beginning of the third quarter, jumping out to a 50-6 lead after Hobbton grabbed three of their own.
The points continued to pile on for Clinton, as they scored another nine unanswered points — six of which came on back-to-back threes by Stuart.
Hobbton’s Izzy Hepworth nearly got a steal of her own as the third quarter winded down. The running clock was in effect as Clinton had the 59-6 lead going into the fourth.
Everett grabbed the first points of the final period on an and-1, where she sank the layup through the foul and hit her free throw. This gave them the 62-6 advantage as time continued to move down unbothered.
Stuart added more gas to the fire with another three pointer, extending Clinton’s lead to 66-6 late in final quarter.
The clock ran out with the same score, and the Lady Dark Horses grabbed their first home victory.
Clinton is now 1-2 on the season, and they face South Lenoir at home tonight before traveling to James Kenan Friday. Tip off tonight is scheduled for 6 p.m., and Friday’s game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. Hobbton fell to 0-1 thus far, and will travel to Midway tonight for a 6 p.m. showdown with the Raiders. They will host Jones on Friday for another 6 p.m. tip off.
Reach Brandt Young at (910) 247-9036, at byoung@clintonnc.com, or on the Sampson Independent Facebook page.