After wins against South Robeson on Tuesday night, the Wildcat boys’ and girls’ basketball teams both fell in the Robeson County Shootout basketball tournament over the weekend.
On Tuesday, December 11, both teams earned wins over South Robeson with the girls defeating the Lady Mustangs 57-54 and the boys earning a 72-57 win over South Robeson.
The Robeson County Shootout tournament began on Wednesday night with the Dillon boys upsetting Fairmont 74-66 in overtime and the Lady Wildcats falling to the Lady Tornadoes 48-47.
In the girls’ game, Dillon took a 16-15 lead in the first, but Fairmont outscored the Lady Cats 17-6 in the second for a 10 point lead at the half. Dillon rallied for a 12-10 third and a 13-6 fourth, but they couldn’t quite close the gap, falling by just one point.
Nakedra Page led the Lady Wildcats with a team-high 12 points with Khamele Manning adding nine, Dakerhia Samuel earning eight, and Yolanda Campbell and Brianna Lee each scoring six. Bonnie Fields added five points for the Wildcats and Cali McRae added one point.
For Fairmont, Anasia Evans scored a game-high 29 points.
In the boys’ game, the Golden Tornadoes took a 17-12 lead in the first but Dillon responded with a 16-11 second quarter to tie things 28-28 at the half. Fairmont edged Dillon 19-16 in the third but Dillon went 14-11 in the fourth to tie things up again at 58-58, forcing the game into overtime. The Wildcats went on an 11-4 run and went 5-for-8 on free throws to outscore Fairmont 16-8 and claim a 74-66win.
Shaqui Cabbagestalk led Dillon with a game-high 26 points with Breon Page adding 15, Olajuwan Fenton adding 12, and Jalik Bethea scoring 10. Avery McCall scored three, and Julius Saunders, Gabriel Salmon, John Caulder, and Maurice Williams each added two points for the Wildcats.
Kwinton Hinson led Fairmont, who had been favored to win the tournament, with 15 points while Jackie Oxendine and Shemar Barfield each added 14. Jarrod Neal scored 10 points for the Golden Tornadoes.
On Thursday night, the Dillon girls squared off with South Robeson in the loser bracket of the girls tournament with South Robeson earning a 54-46 win.
Brianna Lee led Dillon with 11 points, while Savannah Hunt led the Lady Mustangs with 16 points and A’terria Quick added 13.
The loss eliminated the Lady Wildcats from the tournament, giving them a 5-2 record overall this season.
On Friday night, the Dillon boys took on the Lumberton Pirates, where the Wildcats fell 68-67 in the final 1.7 seconds of play.
Dillon took a 20-18 lead in the first quarter, but the Pirates went 18-12 in the second to take a 36-32 lead at the half. The Wildcats rallied for a 20-13 third period for a 52-49 lead. Dillon poured in 15 points in the fourth quarter and was leading by one point in the final moments when Lumberton’s Montrae Strother sank a two-pointer to give the Pirates the win.
Strother scored a game-high 23 points to lead Lumberton with Brian Phillips and Demetri Sheridan each adding 12 in the win.
Breon Page led Dillon with a team-high 16 points and Olajuwan Fenton added 13. Jalik Bethea added seven, Shaqui Cabbagestalk scored five, and Avery McCall and Anthony Blue each earned three points. Maurice Williams and Gabriel Salmon each earned two for the Wildcats. Page sank three three-point shots, while Bethea and Cabbagestalk sank one each.
Dillon proceeded to the final day of tournament play on Saturday where they took on St. Pauls to determine the third place spot.
The Bulldogs went 9-7 and 8-7 against the Wildcats in the first half for a 17-14 lead at the half, but Dillon outscored St. Pauls 17-11 in the third to lead 31-28. The Bulldogs went 13-10 in the fourth to knot the game at 41 each, but the Wildcats fell just short in overtime, missing two free throws that could’ve won the game in the last 4.1 seconds. St. Pauls outscored Dillon 9-8 in OT for a 50-49 win and third place.
Jalik Bethea led Dillon with a team-high 13 points and Breon Page added nine with Julius Saunders adding eight. John Caulder scored six, Olajuwan Fenton and Shaqui Cabbagestalk each added four, and Avery McCall scored two for the Wildcats. Bethea and Saunders each sank two three-pointers and Page shot one.
Malik Livingston earned 16 points to led St. Pauls with Gilchrist, Canady, and Johnson each adding eight points and Banner scoring six.
The Dillon boys are now 5-3 overall.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Fairmont claimed fifth place with a 68-54 win over Swett, and West Bladen claimed the tournament championship with a 68-55 win over Lumberton.
In the final day of the girls’ tournament, South Robeson claimed fifth place with a 61-39 win over St. Pauls, and Fai rmont finished third with a 48-39 win over Red Springs. Lumberton claimed the girls championship title with a 59-47 win over West Bladen.
Dillon’s Khamale Manning was named to the girls’ All-Tournament team and Breon Page was named to the boys’ All-Tournament team. Lumberton’s Aliyah Ratley was the girls’ MVP and West Bladen’s Malcolm Vaught was the MVP for the boys.
The Wildcats were scheduled to travel to face Marlboro County on Monday, December 17, and will be at home on Thursday, December 20, to host the Latta Vikings at 6:00 p.m. Make plans to attend to support our local teams!
