By Michael Lindsay
The Clarkrange Buffaloes and Lady Buffaloes opened the 2024-’25 regular season on the road Monday night as they split a pair of Hall of Fame games at Midway.
The Lady Buffaloes opened the evening with a 70-47 victory followed by the boys falling to the Green Wave, 64-53.
Girls
Kady Hopkins poured in 27 points followed by 23 by Lydia Phillips to lead the Lady Buffaloes to a 70-47 victory at Midway in their season opener.
“We played good,” said Clarkrange head coach Lamar Rogers. “Our defensive pressure was the difference. We had good ball movement and everybody played good. 70 points in the first game isn’t too bad.”
Clarkrange opened on a 7-0 run in the first three minutes of action and pushed ahead by double-digits (13-2) via a Sophia Sitton jumper with 2:32 remaining in the first quarter.
The Lady Buffaloes led 23-7 after one period and extended their lead to 29-9 via a Phillips basket off an inbounds pass with 6:55 left in the second quarter.
“We jumped on them early and wanted to establish our defense,” said Rogers. “We’re rotating really good right now and I’m pleased with it.”
Midway trimmed their deficit to 10 points (33-23) late in the second quarter before a Sitton three-pointer stopped the Lady Waves’ run. Clarkrange led 40-26 at halftime.
The Lady Buffaloes extended their lead back to 20 points in the third quarter before closing out to win by a 70-47 final score.
Up next for Clarkrange is a hall of fame playday at Coalfield on Wednesday.
Clarkrange (70): Kady Hopkins 27, Lydia Phillips 23, Sophia Sitton 11, Chloe Rogers 5, Payton Manis 2, Katelyn Cottle 2
Boys
The Clarkrange Buffaloes fell in their season opener at Midway Monday night, 64-53.
Four Buffaloes scored in double figures led by Bryton Swallows with 12, Tristan Taylor with 11 and Braxton Sears and Noah Gunter scoring 10 points each.
Midway held a 14-13 lead after the first quarter. Clarkrange battled back to take a 23-22 lead with 3:10 remaining in the second quarter via a Taylor three-pointer. Clarkrange led by as many as 6 points (30-24) late in the second before the Green Wave cut their deficit to 1 point by halftime at 30-29.
A Swallows and-one with 5:08 left in the third period extended Clarkrange’s lead back to 6 points at 37-31 before Midway again pulled within one point by the end of the quarter at 42-41.
Midway retook their first lead since the second quarter with the first basket of the fourth period to lead 43-42.
Clarkrange and Midway exchanged leads over the next 2 minutes before the Green Wave took a two-possession advantage at 52-48 with 4:35 remaining.
Midway extended their lead from there to win by a 64-53 final score.
Up next for the Buffaloes is Hall of Fame action at home on Saturday against Smith County.
Clarkrange (53): Bryton Swallows 12, Tristan Taylor 11, Braxton Sears 10, Noah Gunter 10, Mason McWhirter 6, Brady Sitton 4
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