One local middle school boys’ basketball team moved onto the conference championship, while another saw its season come to an end on Tuesday.
No. 1 Rockets cruise past No. 4 Anson
After a first-round bye in the playoffs, the top-seeded Rockingham Middle School boys’ basketball team defeated No. 4 Anson Middle School 40-22.
The 18-point victory moved the Rockets into the playoff championship and improved their record to 10-0 on the season.
Jayden Hamilton continued to be the offensive spark for Rockingham, scoring a game-high 17 points. Chance Crowder added 8 points and Domonic Tillman scored 7 points.
Rockingham outscored the Bearcats 15-0 in the first quarter, using 9 points from Hamilton. Crowder and Bob Pegues each had a three-pointer.Â
At the break, the Rockets led 22-10. Tillman got on the board with four points in the second and Hamilton added a field goal and a free throw.
Rockingham scored 9 points in each of the final two periods to outpace Anson 18-12 in the second half.
Five other players scored in the win — Pegues (3 points), Kerick Hairston, Kamari Liles and Tyler McKenzie all had 2 points and Andrea Streeter added a free throw.
No. 1 Rockingham and head coach Julius Bowden will host No. 3 Sandy Grove at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday for the postseason championship.
No. 2 Red Rams upset by No. 3 Sandy Grove
When Hamlet Middle School played Sandy Grove during the regular season, the Red Rams won in overtime.Â
But unlike the first meeting, Tuesday’s semifinal game at home saw the Panthers upset the Red Rams with a putback at the buzzer to advance to the championship. The final score was 39-37.
Evan Hodges scored a season-high 20 points for Hamlet, including three three-pointers. Zamarion Robinson also reached double digits with 10 points and Amer Morrison added the final 7 points.
Hamlet was outscored 11-8 in the first quarter, and was led by six points from Robinson, all on field goals. Hodges got his scoring started with two points.
A 13-8 run in the second quarter put the Red Rams up 21-19 at halftime. Hodges rattled home two triples and another bucket for eight more points, Morrison netted a three-pointer and Robinson added two.
The Panthers scored 9 points to Hamlet’s 5 points in the third, with four of them coming from Hodges.
A strong fourth-quarter effort saw 11 points from the Red Rams, but it wasn’t enough to advance to the championship. Hodges scored his final six points in the game in the last stanza, Morrison had three points and Robinson notched his final two points.
The Red Rams and head coach Keith Parsons finished the season with an 8-2 overall record.
Note: Coaches Julius Bowden and Keith Parsons contributed to this article. No other scores were reported at the time of publication.
