Robbinsville – Things just did not click for the Knights on Monday.
Ushering in the 2025-26 middle school basketball season by hosting Hayesville, Robbinsville was unable to produce a solid defensive effort on the glass in either game contested, resulting in a 41-20 loss for the Lady Knights and a 46-21 defeat for the Black Knights.
In addition to the shaky inside showing, Robbinsville was stymied early by poor foul shooting. The Lady Knights were 1-for-8 from the charity stripe in the first half alone; in fact, their first points were not attained until Mercy Nelms snatched a rebound and made a successful clean-up at the 4:45 mark of the second quarter. Nelms went on to sink Robbinsville's lone free throw of the half.
Wing Lakin Orr came to life with a six-point output in the third, while point guard Natalie Swimmer emerged as the Knights' leading scorer thanks to seven points in the fourth stanza. A pair of buckets from Emily Jones and Kamry Rogers in the final quarter rounded out Robbinsville's effort.
The Lady Jackets swished five from outside in the victory, while each of the Lady Knights' attempts from beyond the arc were unsuccessful. That was not the case in the boys' nightcap, which saw Brayden Allison and Carsan Snider each drain a trey in the opening period to match Hayesville's 3-point production during the first.
Robbinsville only trailed by seven entering the second, but the Jackets continued to methodically pull away and built a 27-15 halftime lead.
Following a 4-4 third, Hayesville went on a 15-2 run in the fourth to close out the win.
Allison's nine points paced the Black Knights effort. Snider logged five, while Micah York dropped four. Also scoring was Landon Silvers 2 and Kam Driver 1.
Robbinsville travels to Swain County today, before returning home to host Murphy on Monday. All middle school games begin with girls action at 4 p.m.