Middle and high schools sports has begun shifting focus from football to basketball area basketball teams has gotten underway this past week. In middle school action, local teams began their season on Monday when the Hobbton Middle School Wildcats hosted the Midway Middle School Raiders.

In both the girls and boys games, Midway took home wins to begin their respective seasons at 1-0.

Girls

The Midway girls picked up a 16-9 win but the game was much closer than the score would indicate. The Raiders had a 4-2 lead after one quarter. By the end of the second quarter, the Wildcats had cut that to a 5-4 Raider lead. In the third period, the lead changed a couple of times with the Raiders holding a 10-8 lead. The score remained close through the final quarter until the last two and a half minutes when the Raiders got their offense figured out and began to pull away for the win.

“We played really hard,” said Hobbton coach Sam Bristow. “The girls fought really hard and we forced a lot of turnovers and I’m proud of the effort.”

Midway coach Selena Joseph commented, “In the first half, we struggled. We wouldn’t shoot the ball and we weren’t boxing out. We talked about that at halftime and I felt like those areas got a little better. We finally started taking some shots and got a few to fall. We also started doing a little better defensively to get somethings going so not a bad first outing.”

Boys

The Raiders boys had a relatively easy task handling the Wildcats. They jumped out to a commanding lead in the first quarter at 20-11. In the second frame they built on that lead with a 41-21 lead going into the break. In the third quarter, they outscored the Wildcats 14-6 finishing with a 51-26 margin. With Midway playing some of the younger guys in the final frame, the Wildcats gained some ground outscoring the Raiders 11-3 for a 58-37 final.

“I thought we played pretty good for our first game,” commented Midway coach Josh Bullard. “We showed a lot of hustle. We have things to work on. We committed too many fouls but its early in the season. We have to keep working on our defense and not fouling so much. Overall for a first game with about a week and a half of practice, we looked pretty good.”

Hobbton coach Jackson Temple said, “The effort was there but we need more time tolerant our sets on offense and defense. We finished football on Monday last week so the players are just getting into basketball. Midway played great man to man defense and to beat them we need to be at our best. It will take all 14 of us clicking on all cylinders to beat them this year. I believe e will practice hard and improve as the year progresses. We know what we have to do to get there.”

On Monday, the preseason will continue with Hobbton Middle at Union Middle while the Raiders will host Sampson Middle.

Midway’s Israel Firston-Cook gets a shot off as a Wildcat defender tries to knock the ball away.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_MMs-Israel-Firston-Cook.jpgMidway’s Israel Firston-Cook gets a shot off as a Wildcat defender tries to knock the ball away. David Johson | Sampson Independent

Midway’s Morgan Williams puts a shot up over a Wildcat defender.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_MMS-Morgan-Williams.jpgMidway’s Morgan Williams puts a shot up over a Wildcat defender. David Johson | Sampson Independent
Lady Raiders eke out tough win; boys cruise

By David Johnson

Sports Writer

Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected]