Midway’s Tykevon Cash passes to a teammate after getting a steal, while Hobbton’s Sawyer Warren defends.
                                 Brandt Young|Sampson Independent

Midway’s Tykevon Cash passes to a teammate after getting a steal, while Hobbton’s Sawyer Warren defends.

Brandt Young|Sampson Independent

<p>Zymier Small lets a shot fly as Kyrie Best jumps and tries to block it.</p>
                                 <p>Brandt Young|Sampson Independent</p>

Zymier Small lets a shot fly as Kyrie Best jumps and tries to block it.

Brandt Young|Sampson Independent

<p>Samuel Scott unleashes a jumper as Tyrell Williams rushes to get a hand in his face.</p>
                                 <p>Brandt Young|Sampson Independent</p>

Samuel Scott unleashes a jumper as Tyrell Williams rushes to get a hand in his face.

Brandt Young|Sampson Independent

<p>Hobbton’s Ryder Brown moves to the hoop to let a layup go early in the game Tuesday.</p>
                                 <p>Brandt Young|Sampson Independent</p>

Hobbton’s Ryder Brown moves to the hoop to let a layup go early in the game Tuesday.

Brandt Young|Sampson Independent

In the second game at Union Middle Tuesday night, Hobbton Middle and Midway Middle boys squared off for their play-in game with the same stakes as the girls: winner moves on to the semi-finals, loser goes home. It was all Midway’s game from the start, and the Raiders moved on with their decisive 27-16 win.

Midway took the first possession but couldn’t make anything of it; Hobbton couldn’t either on their first trip down the court. Tykevon Cash scored the first two points on a pair of free throws and Zymeir Small forced a turnover on the inbound, giving Samuel Scott a jumper from the foul line to extend Midway’s early lead to 4-0.

Consecutive 3-point attempts from the Wildcats were no good, and a low-block jumper from Tyler Bentley pushed their lead out to 6-0 with under four minutes left in the opening quarter.

Small was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Tyrell Williams, and he sank two of the three shots to give the Raiders the 8-0 lead nearly halfway through the first period.

Bentley swiped a pass and took it for a layup, but was fouled in the process. He made both free throws, but the second was nullified after a lane violation, keeping the score 9-0. He extended it to 11-0 on a layup shortly after, as the Raiders continued to cruise.

The offensive struggles continued for Hobbton as Midway was in full control of seemingly every aspect of the game through the first quarter, forcing turnovers and bad decisions from the Wildcats.

The score was 11-0 as the teams moved into the second quarter.

Sawyer Warren opened scoring in the second, knocking down one of his free throws for Hobbton’s first point of the game over a minute into the quarter.

A deep triple from Tyrell Williams was off the mark once more, and Midway held a 14-1 lead at the halfway point in the second. Ryder Brown drove the paint and get the floater to add two more for Hobbton. Vann Williams did his part on a pump fake that gave him a baseline jumper down the right side for two more to close it to 14-5 with under two minutes in the half.

Midway received a technical foul with 1:51 to play and Tyrell Williams sank both free throws to make it 14-7 in the waning moments of the half.

Cash would grab all three points on an and-1 with 1:04 to play, fighting through the Wildcat contact and sinking the layup plus the foul shot after. Scott followed with a baseline jumper, and they quickly jumped out to a 19-7 lead. Tyrell Williams attempted another three, this time wide-open, but again couldn’t connect.

Small attempted the running half court shot to end the half, but it was no good as well. The score remained with the 19-7 Midway advantage at halftime.

Midway grabbed the first points of the second half on a jump shot to give them the 21-7 advantage.

Offense came to a screeching halt for both teams in the third, with just one bucket being scored between the two over halfway through the period.

Scott was sent to the line with 2:38 to play in the quarter, missing his first but sinking his second, which would be voided by a lane violation, keeping the score the same.

No points were scored in over five minutes to close out the third, marking a period of stagnant offenses and defenses that wouldn’t let up. The teams moved to the final quarter with the same 21-7 score.

Gage Sheets scored the first bucket of the fourth for the Wildcats from the low block just past 30 seconds in, cutting the Raider lead to 21-9.

Tanner Register fed Bentley on a jumper down the right side for the first Midway points in over a quarter near the four-minute mark. This made it 23-9. Cash stole a pass in the backcourt and fed Small for another layup to extend further, and with 2:11 to go, the Raiders were in full control at 27-10. Tyrell Williams was fouled on a 3-point attempt, and he sank one of the three shots to cut the lead by one.

A 3-pointer and a fast break layup was added by Warren with less than a minute to play, and with those, Hobbton made it a 27-16 game, but the Raiders came out victorious.

Reach Brandt Young at (910) 247-9036, at byoung@clintonnc.com, or on the Sampson Independent Facebook page.