Midway and Hobbton squared off on the hardwood for the first time this season on Monday night as the Raiders hosted the Wildcats in an old Sampson County rivalry. Midway took control early and appeared to be on their way to a comfortable victory but the Wildcats had other plans.

After a fierce battle that went back and forth, the Raiders had done enough in the end to secure their third win of the season, 65-60.

Midway led by double digits at 19-8 at the end of quarter number one and as much as 25-13 in the second quarter but that’s when the game took a big turn.

In the second quarter, Midway led 25-13 with 5:28 left in the half but the Raiders began to struggle. With Midway battling turnover issues and missed free throws, Hobbton caught fire and clawed back.

It took only 2:08 for the Wildcats to mount a 12-0 run to tie the game up at 25 with 3:20 left in the half.

The teams continued to duke it out the rest of the way but it was Hobbton that led 33-31 at the half as Omar Farrior sunk a three-ball as time expired to give the Wildcats the lead.

The drama continued in the second half as neither team could gain any separation. Despite the Wildcats clearly having the momentum, they could only maintain a two to three point advantage as the Raiders drew a pair of charges on back-to-back possession to thwart the Hobbton offense. As the period was winding down, Colby Pope hit a free throw to pull Midway back to within a point, but Hobbton yet again notched a buzzer-beating 3-ball. The play was certainly close but the referees ruled that Farrior had gotten the shot off clean to give his team the 46-42 lead headed to the fourth quarter.

The game continued to be a battle in the fourth quarter as Cole Parker provided a spark for Midway. Parker connected on a three-pointer to get the Raiders back to within a point at 46-45. Hobbton answered with two more points to make it 48-45 but another Parker three-pointer ties things up at 48-48. With 6:15 remaining, three points by Pope put Midway back ahead at 51-48.

The teams continued to battle as the game was once again tied 56-56 with 2:20 to go. As the game turned sloppy down the final stretch with Hobbton unable to take advantage of poor Midway free throw shooting, the Raiders hung on to escape with the 65-60 win.

Leading the scoring for Hobbton was Farrior with a game-high 26, Jusen Bell had 16 and Josh Blue tacked on 10.

For Midway, Jamar Autry had 22 and Pope contributed 15.

With the win, Midway improves to 3-2 overall and is slated to be back in action on Wednesday hosting Triton and Friday hosting Lakewood.

For Hobbton, they drop to 0-4 overall and were scheduled to host Union on Tuesday.

Hobbton’s Jordan Pearsall backs down Midway defender Jamar Autry.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_hvmbball.jpgHobbton’s Jordan Pearsall backs down Midway defender Jamar Autry.

Midway’s Colby Pope goes up for a basket over a pair of Hobbton defenders.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_hvmbball1.jpgMidway’s Colby Pope goes up for a basket over a pair of Hobbton defenders.
Raiders come out on top in back-and-forth battle

By Daron Barefoot

Sports Writer

Reach Daron Barefoot at [email protected]. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @SampsonInd.