ROCKINGHAM – It is always exciting when two rivals clash on the hardwood. It’s even more exciting when they have the opportunity to face one another in the post season with a trip to the championship game on the line. When that post season game needs overtime to decide a winner; well it just doesn’t get much better.
That was the scenario in the Valentine’s Day showdown between the Rockingham Middle School Lady Rockets basketball team and the visiting Lady Red Rams from Hamlet Middle School. It was easy to tell that the nerves were setting in after regulation ended in a 25-25 tie. The two teams went 0-for-5 from the free throw line in the extra period and very few shot attempts were even close to their target.
With 1:24 left in overtime, Rockingham’s Allyiah Swiney narrowly missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The ball rolled off the front iron and made its way into the hands of Hamlet’s Sanavia Patrick who later finished with a layup on the other end. Those two points were all that the Lady Red Rams needed as they held on to win 27-25 setting up and appearance in the conference championship game next Monday against Anson.
Much like the end of regulation, the first quarter ended in a draw. Hamlet’s Da’veah Robinson, Rayana Shubert, and Patrick each recorded field goals while Daniah McDonald and Swiney each scored baskets for the Lady Rockets. Swiney also went 2-for-2 from the free throw line ending the opening period in a 6-6 tie.
The first 5 minutes of the second quarter was more of the same with the two teams trading baskets. It was a 10-10 stalemate with a minute to play before halftime when Hamlet tried to pull away. Shubert put her team ahead by one when she connected on a free throw with 59 seconds on the clock.
Following a Rocket turnover, Jaimaya Ratliff took the ball straight into the paint, forced her way up between two Rocket defenders and laid one in with 51 seconds remaining in the half. Shubert finished the first half scoring when she banked one off the glass with 25 seconds remaining, and the Lady Red Rams went into the break leading 15-10.
Hamlet was not done yet. Robinson sent the visitor’s bench into a frenzy when she ripped away a Rocket inbound pass, took it all the way to the other hoop, and laid it in with 5:01 left in the third. A putback by Shubert nearly a minute and-a-half later gave Hamlet’s its largest lead of the game at 19-10.
That’s when Rockingham’s Kyla Sampson decided that she had seen enough. Sampson, who was standing all alone just inside the right wing, wound up with the ball after it bounced out of a scrum in the paint. She squared up and connected on a long two that swished through 2:04 remaining in the third quarter.
Moments later Sampson stripped the ball away from Ratliff, dribbled the length of the floor, and finished with a layup with 1:21 showing on the clock. Then everyone in attendance experienced déjà vu when she stole the ball again and scored on another fast break just seconds later. Swiney added a layup in the closing seconds of the third quarter cutting the Rockingham deficit to one at 19-18.
In the fourth quarter, Hamlet used its physical, stingy defense to try and put an end to the Lady Rocket’s run. Shubert, Patrick, and Amerah Primus combined to record four blocks on Rockingham’s first three possessions. Primus rejected McDonald’s layup attempt and then swatted away Mariah Waddell’s putback attempt with just under five minutes remaining in the game.
Then Kaitlyn Huff, who racked up an impressive nine steals in the game, showed her speed by chasing down Swiney and fouling the Lady Rocket to prevent an easy score. It was Huff’s fifth foul which disqualified her from the game’s final four and-a-half minutes.
Swiney made up for it on the next possession. The Lady Rockets passed around the perimeter until Swiney launched one from the left wing which banked in putting Rockingham ahead 21-19 with 4:04 remaining. Hamlet answered right back with an India Johnson jump shot to tie the game up for the fifth time.
Swiney then got another big opportunity. Just as she was dribbling towards the top of the key, Hamlet defenders anticipated a pass and backed off leaving Swiney wide open. She made them pay with another trey which ignited the home crowd, and Rockingham had their largest lead of the game at 24-21 with 2:58 left in the game.
After Ratliff cut it to two with a short jumper with 1:45 remaining, the crowd was punished with a suspense filled series of missed opportunities. Over the next minute, Patrick, Shubert, and Ratliff all had shots rim out that would have regained the lead for Hamlet. Sampson and Swiney missed close shots on the other end during that time for the Lady Rockets.
Then Hamlet caught a break. Robinson hauled in the rebound on a Swiney miss and took off the other way for a fast break opportunity. Swiney chased down and fouled Robinson to prevent the easy layup. Even with the home crowd creating a deafening rumble, Robinson remained poised and connected on two clutch free throws putting Hamlet back up by one with 34.1 seconds remaining.
On the next possession, the Lady Rockets tortured the crowd once again. They narrowly failed to connect on three straight shot attempts, but continued to collect offensive rebounds to keep their hopes alive. Finally, McDonald was fouled and sent to the line with 18.5 seconds left and a chance to put her Lady Rockets back on top. She connected on the first, but missed the second knotting the game up at 25-all. That score remained until the end of regulation sending the game into overtime where Patrick would deliver her game winning shot.
Shubert led the Lady Red Rams with 7, Patrick and Robinson each added 6, Ratliff netted 4, and Huff and Johnson each scored 2.
Swiney led all scorers in the loss with 12 points for the Lady Rockets, Sampson added 6, McDonald netted 5, and Keyoni Nichols scored 2.
It was Hamlet’s second playoff win in a row against a team that beat them during the regular season. -The Lady Red Rams fell to the Lady Rockets 23-16 on January 30th in Rockingham. In Tuesday’s round one playoff game, Hamlet crushed the Lady Eagles of East Hoke 45-17. East Hoke defeated the Lady Red Rams 25-23 in the season opener back in December.
Patrick, Ratliff, and Shubert each reached doubled figures in Monday’s win over East Hoke with 12, 11, and 10 points respectively.
