The Roseboro-Salemburg Middle boys held on to their perfect season record Thursday, defeating Midway’s young Raiders 53-28.

But, the game started out with Midway in command.

The middle Raiders came out hitting, hitting three 3-pointers in the opening minutes to take a commanding 12-4 lead over R-S.

“That put us in a daze,” Roseboro coach Todd Wheeler admitted.

But R-S wasn’t to be held down long. The team, Wheeler said, came back in the second quarter playing strong pressure defense, which allowed them to hold Midway to only 4 second-quarter points while allowing the Leopard offense to score 18 to take a 22-18 lead into the break.

Although Midway fought back in the third period, R-S held onto its lead, scoring 12 points to the Raiders’ 8, and then catching fire again in the fourth to put 19 more points on the board to finish out the afternoon.

“We were able to take advantage of the opportunities our defense created to get ahead and, at the same time, hold Midway some,” Wheeler said. “That really as the difference in the game.”

Midway coach Joshua Bullard said his team started off good but by the second quarter they had slowed and weren’t doing a good job of taking care of the basketball.

“That hurt us in the end,” Bullard stressed.

Leading scoring for R-S was Tyquan Nyquan Murphy with 18 points, followed by Quamain Williams, 12; Keshawn Bailey, 10; and Tyquan Murphy, 4.

For Midway, Greg Orr, Reece Wilson and Michael Kramer each contributed 6 points. Austin Smith had 2 points.

R-S moves to 5-0 and must take on the only other undefeated middle school team, Sampson, next Thursday in a battle for the top position.

“We are similar in athleticism,” Wheeler said. “We have a lot of speed and they always have a lot of speed too. It should make for a really good game.”

Midway moves to 2-4. They play again Tuesday against Hobbton Middle.