The Moore County Middle School Middle School got its hoops season underway this past week, splitting a pair with Cascade, the boys winning and the girls taking a loss.

Champions – 34

Raiders – 41

The Raiders actually trailed after the first quarter in their game with the Champions by a count of 11-11-10. The early offense was generated by Max Dickey and Grayson Hill, both of whom deposited a couple of buckets while Sawyer Boyce hit a deuce. The Raiders were able to wrestle the lead away from the Champions by half as Dickey and Brantly Chapin both had two baskets apiece while Boyce hit another shot from the field to give the Raiders a 20-19 lead going into the locker room.

Defense ruled the third as both teams could only put up seven points. Dickie had a bucket and a pair of free throws while Lake Wade had his only bucket of the night. Hill was one-for-two from the line. The Raiders were able to open up the offense in the fourth to put away the Champions, outscoring their guests 14-8. Boyce got the hot hand down the stretch as he sizzled the cylinder with three baskets. Chapin joined in with a pair of buckets while Dickie and Hill both contributed hoops to set the final score at 41-34. Dickey led the Raiders in scoring with 14 while Chapin had eight and Hill seven.

Lady Champions– 36

Raiderettes – 30

The Raiderettes held the lead after one, going up 9-8 early thanks to a big opening by Murphy Ray who splashed a three and then hit two more from inside the arc while Sadie Ivey had a two. However the girls from Lynchburg fell behind in the second and were outscored by the Lady Champions 11-7. Keegan Embrey busted the basket from long range while Maci Chapin and Ivey had two apiece as the Raiderettes trailed 19-16 at the break.

Both teams recorded seven-point third quarter with Emmy Thomas doing most of the scoring for the Moore County squad as she hit a three and a deuce while Madison Hatfield knocked one down from the field. The Raiderettes posted a third consecutive seven-point quarter in the fourth and were not able to overtake the Lady Champions who won 36-30. Embrey had her second triple of the night while Ray and Hatfield both contributed buckets in the fourth.  Ray led her squad with 11 points on the night.