JAMES GILMORE/THE DEMOPOLIS TIMES

LINDEN &045; A rivalry may have brewed last night as the Linden Patriots and the R.C. Hatch Bobcats faced each other for the first time. Hatch came out on top with a 68-59 victory.

It was an exciting ball game form start to finish as the Linden die hearts stayed with their team to the end.

The Patriots scored the first five points of the game, while the Bobcats missed their first four shot attempts. Hatch finally connected on its first field goal following a time out.

Linden would add five more points to go up 10-2 at the 4:54 mark, with the home crowd cheering them on.

The Bobcats weren’t done as they came back to score the next eight points, including a three-pointer by Rodney Scott, to tie the game. Hatch went ahead, 13-10, on another triple by Scott. The Patriots would follow with a triple of its own from Gary Williams to knot the game to close the first quarter.

The Bobcats went on a 14-4 run in the first three and a half minutes of the third quarter to go up 27-17. Scott added another three-pointer in the spurt. Hatch led 37-28 at the intermission. Scott netted 14 points in the first half.

The Bobcats built its largest lead midway through the third quarter. Linden would close the gap to six, 48-42 with 2:39 left in the quarter, including a three-pointer from Kendarius Goodwill. A Sean Richardson put back a minute later got the Patriots within five, but Hatch held a 51-45 lead at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Bobcats held its own, out scoring Linden 17-14 to walk away with the win.

Goodwill topped all scorers with 21 points for the Patriots. Richardson dropped in 19 points and Gary Williams added 10 points.

Scott finished with 16 points for Hatch. Calvin Pope scored 13 points. Antwain Sparks contributed 12 points and DeMarcus Porter chipped in 11.

The Lady Patriots beats Hatch, 34-27

The Linden Lady Patriots scored just two points in the third quarter, but manage to hold off a charging R.C. Hatch Lady Bobcat team to pull out the, 34-27 win.

Linden could have very well put the game away from the free throw line. They went to the stripe unofficially a record 52 times during the game. They only converted on 12 of its attempt. Hatch had five players to foul out in the game.

The Lady Patriots pulled away to a 10-point advantage late in the first quarter. They held a 14-4 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

The game slowed as the parade whistles began to blow. The Lady Bobcats trailed 20-11 after two quarters of play.

Hatch would outscore Linden 7-2 in the third quarter, as the Lady Raiders missed all 10 free throw attempts in the quarter.

Hatch fought its way back in the fourth quarter to get as close as one points with 2:24 left to play in the game. Two offensive put backs would seal the win for Linden, as they also shut out the Lady Bobcats the rest of the way.

Linden’s Cherrell White was the leading scorer in the game with 12 points.