ROCKINGHAM — Meeting in Rockingham on Tuesday, the Hamlet and Rockingham middle school girls’ basketball teams clashed for the first time since playing one another in last year’s Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference title game.
Playing in front of a packed gym with fans from both sides, the Lady Rockets used a strong second half to defeat the Lady Red Rams 41-28 in the latest chapter of the in-county rivalry.
Head coach Teresa Mason and her Lady Rockets improved to 6-0 on the season, and dating back to the start of last season, Rockingham has won 17-straight games. During last year’s title game, the Lady Rockets defeated their rivals 33-17.
Lady Rocket seventh grader Jamyia Lindsey netted a game-high 22 points, as the point guard exploded for 19 points in the second half. She helped break the game open at the start of the third, going on an 8-1 run by herself, finishing the frame with 12 points.
Teammate Keyoni Nichols chipped in 12 points in the win, putting six points on the board in each half. Also scoring for Rockingham (6-0) were MaKailah Jackson (3 points), C’Niya Hinson (2 points) and Jasmine Jennings (2 points).
Hamlet’s Ryelan Lyerly helped her team keep pace with a team-high 13 points, scoring 10 points in the second half. Orena Drake added eight points for Hamlet, followed by five points from Jamia Crowder and two points Saquanna Bostic.
Both teams started the ball game slow on offense, seeing their respective defenses hold one another in check. At the end of the first half, Rockingham held a 12-11 lead.
Hamlet rolled out to a 5-3 lead in the first quarter, using a field goal from Lyerly and Bostic, plus a Crowder free throw. The Lady Rockets got on the board with a Hinson drive and a Lindsey free throw.
A Crowder baseline jumper to start the second put Hamlet up by four points, which was its largest lead at any point in the game. But Nichols went to work netting six points in the quarter, including a jumper off the glass to put Rockingham up 12-9 with eight seconds on the clock.
To close the half, Drake connected on both ends of a one-and-one to cut the halftime deficit to just one point. Lindsey finished the first half with just three points.
Out of the break, Lindsey converted four quick free throws and used a pair of forced turnovers by the Lady Rockets to record two more transition buckets. Lyerly landed a free throw, but Hamlet head coach Mitch Coe called a timeout with 6:49 remaining with his team trailing 20-12.
The short break worked in Hamlet’s favor, seeing Drake splash home a three-pointer from the top of the key and add a deep jumper on the next possession. The 5-0 run pulled the Lady Red Rams within three points.
Lindsey and Nichols combined to split Rockingham’s final eight points in the stanza, and a pair of Lyerly shots from the charity stripe were the only points Hamlet scored in the final six minutes.
Leading 28-19 at the start of the final 10-minute period, Lindsey put in two drives and Nichols hit a baseline floater to give Rockingham its biggest lead of the game, 15 points.
Lyerly wouldn’t go away easy, as she scored her final seven points in the fourth. She hit a putback on a rebound, added two free throws and got the Hamlet fans on their feet with a three-pointer with 42 seconds left.
With the clock winding, Jennings added her two points off the glass following a long stretch where the Lady Rockets played keep away.
“We were certainly the underdogs today, but she’s a great coach,” Coe said of Mason. “I think she’s one of the best middle school coaches in the state, and she always has been.
“We kept it tight in the first half, but then (Rockingham) had a lot of run-out baskets on turnovers, and that was the difference maker,” he added. “On defense, we need to tighten things up. But I’m proud of how our girls continued to fight.”
Rockingham will return to action Thursday at home against East Hoke Middle School, while the Lady Red Rams (4-2) will host Anson Middle School the same afternoon. Both games will get underway at 4 p.m.
