ROCKINGHAM – The Rockingham Middle School girls’ and boys’ basketball teams secured a first round bye in the upcoming Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference (SEMSAC) tournament with wins over Spring Hill on Thursday. Both teams moved to 8-0 and will close out regular season when it hosts Sandy Grove on Monday.
In an unusual scenario set up by a schedule change, when the Rockingham boys team welcomes Sandy Grove, it will be between a battle of unbeatens. The winner will be the regular season champions (which is more of a bragging right than an actual acknowledgement) and will get the one seed in the SEMSAC tournament. The loser will still receive the No. 2 seed, a first round bye and a second round home game.
Against Spring Hill, the Rockets started off slow only carrying a 17-12 lead into the break. However, they outscored their visitors 13-2 in the third quarter to pull away to a convincing 37-10 victory.
Chance Crowder scored a game-high 22 points. B.J. Hinson netted 8, Andrae Streeter had 3 and Graham Odom, Cam’ron Coley and Kerick Hairston each added 2.
The top six teams advance to the conference tournament and will be seeded as follows:
- T1 Rockingham (8-0)
- T2 Sandy Grove (8-0)
- 3 East Hoke (7-2)
- 4 Carver (5-4)
- 5 Anson (4-5)
- 6 West Hoke (4-5)
No. 4 Carver will host No. 5 Anson and No. 3 East Hoke will host No. 6 West Hoke in round one. The second round opponents for Rockingham and Sandy Grove will be decided by the outcoming of Monday’s game.
The Lady Rockets scored early and often to easily defeat Spring Hill 37-7. Madisen Jackson and Kaylan Parsons each netted 10 points in the victory. Kaniah Little was close behind with 9, Za’Ryah Williams netted 6, and Addison Butler added 2.
Unlike their male counterparts, the Lady Rockets locked up the No. 1 seed with the win over Spring Hill since they defeated No. 2 East Hoke earlier in the season. They will have a first round bye in the conference tournament and will host the round two game regardless of the outcome of Monday’s meeting with Sandy Grove.
The girls conference standings are:
- 1 Rockingham (8-0)
- 2 East Hoke (8-1)
- 3 West Hoke (7-2)
- 4 Carver (6-3)
- 5 Spring Hill (4-5)
- 6 Hamlet (4-5)
No. 4 Carver will host No. 5 Spring Hill and No. 3 West Hoke will host No. 6 Hamlet in round one. No. 1 Rockingham will host the Carver/Spring Hill winner in round two while No. 2 East Hoke will welcome the West Hoke/Hamlet winner in the second round.
