The Hobbton Middle Lady Wildcats kept the game close in the first half against the visiting Sampson Middle Dark Horses Thursday, but faded down the stretch in route to a 26-9 loss.

After one quarter of play, the Lady Dark Horses held on to a slim 5-4 lead.

The second quarter, however, is when Sampson begin to pull away as the Lady Horses outscored the Wildcats 6-2 to take an 11-6 lead into the break.

Sampson continued to widen the margin in the third quarter, outscoring Hobbton 10-3 to build a 21-9 lead at the end of the quarter.

Offense was nonexistent for the Lady Wildcats in the final quarter as the Lady Horses held them scoreless and concluded the game with its 26-9 victory.

Sampson’s I. Banks led the scoring with 13 points. K. Chestnutt had six points and S. Harrison added four.

“Both teams played a really good game. There was a lot of improvement out of Hobbton’s team,” said Sampson coach Jamie Harper. “We enjoyed playing against them. My girls started off slow but we managed to pick it up in the second half and get back into our game of basketball. I am looking forward to good things out of them for the rest of the year.”

Sampson will return home to host Midway Middle on Tuesday.

Hobbton will travel on Thursday to play Midway Middle.

I. Banks gets off 2 of her 13 points in Thursday’s Sampson Middle win over Hobbton Middle.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_SMS-Girls-1.jpgI. Banks gets off 2 of her 13 points in Thursday’s Sampson Middle win over Hobbton Middle.

By David Johnson

Sports Writer