Leopard boys dominate Hobbton

After a previous meeting between Hobbton and Lakewood ended in a close 64-62 win for Lakewood in front of their home crowd, the Wildcats looked to avenge their loss, split the series with Lakewood, and put an end to the Leopards’ win streak, all in front of their own home crowd on Friday night. Unfortunately for Hobbton, the Leopards were too strong, and Lakewood took the decisive 72-52 win to extend their streak.

Hobbton’s Joe Corbett grabbed the beginning tip, but couldn’t make anything of it. Lakewood would grab the first points of the contest, and Xavier Hall doubled the lead at 4-0 with over six minutes still to go in the opener.

Hobbton’s first points would come from a Deonte Darden inbound to Corbett, who sank the layup for the hosts.

Darden buried a deep two to tie things up, but a timely Xavier Hall block led to a Juan Parker Jr. layup at the other end. The score sat at 8-4 in favor of Lakewood with just over three minutes to play in the first.

Amir Tate collected a rebound and put it home to cut the lead down to two, but Hall was there to do the same for Lakewood and extend it back out. Tate would be there again for a foul line jumper, as the score moved to 12-8 in favor of the visitors.

A jumper from Dai’vian Murrell from nearly the exact same spot found its mark as well, cutting the Leopard lead to 14-10. This was the score at the first break.

Things opened quickly for the Leopards in the second quarter, as they grabbed two quick baskets with under a minute played. Hall missed on his first dunk attempt but was fouled on the put-back, which he sank the free throw for, giving Lakewood the 3-point play and the 21-10 lead.

Richard Simpson was fouled on a layup, but he couldn’t connect on the following free throw, keeping the play at just two points for the Wildcats. J’kwon McKoy added a trey for Lakewood, pushing the score out to 26-13 with just over five minutes to go in the opening half.

With just under four minutes left in the half, Lakewood had the 29-15 lead, but if the first cat fight between the cross-county foes told any story, it would be that no lead in this rivalry is safe.

Hall’s first dunk of the night came with less than a minute to go in the second quarter, making it a 31-15 game for the visiting Leopards. Corbett grabbed half the points back on a single free throw on Hobbton’s next trip down the court.

Jaziah Brunson put on a scoring clinic in the final seconds of the half, scoring five total on a three from the top of the key and a drive through the lane for a layup, to make it 36-16 at halftime.

Lakewood’s Dashaun Carr opened the scoring in the second half after a scoop and a score gave him a layup on a fast break. Corbett answered with a pair of free throws, and the lead stayed the same for Lakewood.

Hall got his second dunk of the night in an inbound pass, and quickly the Leopards led 40-18.

The Wildcats caught a surge, though, and scored seven quick points to move it to 42-25, proving they weren’t out of it just yet. As pestering and unrelenting as Hobbton was, Lakewood was there to keep itself ahead. A pair of free throws from Parker just north of four minutes pushed the Leopard lead back out to 23 at 48-25. Simpson would answer at the other end with a floater, but Parker and Cameron Williams combined for three points on a Williams free throw and a Parker put-back.

A drive through the lane for Carr resulted in a dish to Devin Jones for a deep-key layup. Murrell put a Leopard on skates with flashy footwork and keen dribbling skills, taking it to the hoop and scoring another bucket. Still, though, Lakewood led, 59-29, with under a minute to play in the third.

A small spurt would come the Wildcats’ way to end the period, and Simpson buried a last-second jumper to move the score to 59-33 as the teams broke for the final intermission.

The teams traded baskets to begin the fourth, and a dish from Hall to Ayden Melvin on the low block gave Lakewood the 63-35 lead over Hobbton.

A scoring lull transpired early in the fourth when Lakewood put reserve players in, but Simpson broke it on a drive to the hoop. Darden would follow up shortly after, and the deficit was closed to 65-42 with 4:48 to play. Lakewood’s Brandon Powell signaled for the timeout and put his starters back in.

The teams continued trading baskets down the stretch, but Lakewood held onto their lead as the crowd started to make their presence known on both sides. With 2:40 to go, the Leopards had the 69-44 lead behind a stout defense and efficient offense.

A triple from Tate moved it to 70-45. A spinning, turnaround jumper from Murrell through the tight defense of Carr pushed it to a 72-49 ball game with under a minute to play.

Murrell and Israel Espada combined for three more via a Murrell layup from a steal on an inbound and a Espada foul shot. Reggie Thompson would try to get a buzzer-beater off, but couldn’t before time expired.

The game went final with a 72-52 Lakewood win.

“We have to continue to work on our defensive communication,” Lakewood head coach Brandon Powell said after the game. “We switched defenses this time, and I gave the guards a huge challenge.” Another strategy, the Leopards’ coach said, was to make his guards more aggressive offensively, since teams have started to pack the paint, due to having “two of the best bigs in the state,” referring to Cameron Williams and Xavier Hall.

On the flip side, Hobbton saw a much different game than the last time they took on the Leopards on Lakewood’s home court. Coach Ayden Tart attributed the lackluster performance from his Wildcats to a myriad of factors. “I think that three games this week really got to us. Shots not falling early really put us behind,” Tart said. “Then, they played a much better defense against us this go-round.”

Lakewood moved to 17-1 on the heels of a 17-game win streak after falling to Midway in the Leopards’ season opener. They host Neuse Charter for their senior night tonight and will travel to Rosewood on Thursday to finish their regular season.

For Hobbton, the Wildcats moved to 7-11 on the season. They finish the second part of back-to-back games against Union tonight when they travel to take on the Spartans after playing host last night. They will be at North Duplin in their regular season finale Friday.