Two powerful middle school teams — the Sampson and Middle girls — battled it out in Raider country Thursday afternoon, with the undefeated young Lady Horses securing the 41-35 win.

It was, both coaches said, a great game from start to finish.

“Both teams played very well,” said Midway Middle coach Selena Joseph.

Sampson coach Jamie Harper had similar things to say. “It was just a good basketball game. Both teams have a lot of heart and a lot of hustle and they battled back and forth all night. There was a lot of spirit on that court, I can tell you that.”

And both coaches said the teams played well on offense and defense.

“We had a lot of fouls in the first half,” Harper said, “and that hurt us. But by the end of the first half and throughout the second half, we played smarter and pulled together.”

Midway went up early and held a 16-6 lead after the first quarter. Then Sampson turned on the juice, offensively and defensively, holding the home team to only 2 points in the second quarter while scoring 14 of their own. Sampson led it at the break 20-18.

The battle continued into the third period, with Sampson trailing by 1 at the frame’s end.

But focused play in the final period gave the young Lady Horses the power they needed to pull out the win.

Joseph said the Raider girls got in a hole in the second period and weren’t able to quite dig themselves out of it. “We had some turnovers, too, that cost us some points. And, Mikayla had a great game for Sampson.”

Boykin led all scoring with 32 points. Also scoring for Sampson was Edye Carr, 4; Kiera Mabry, 3; and Kadaysa Dawson, 2.

For Midway, Leah Williams led scoring with 13 points. She also had 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 assists. Also scoring for the young Raider girls was Hannah Lucas, 2 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 1 assist; Alex Canady, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists; Maggie Warren, 6 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal; Madeline Byrd, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals; and Rachel Hodges, 2 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

With the win, Sampson’s record moves to 9-0. They host Hobbton next Thursday night.