The men’s basketball team from Midway traveled to West Bladen Monday night for the opening round of the Woodman Life Holiday Tournament. The Raiders’ first opponent was the South Brunswick Cougars from Southport, members of the Mideastern 3A-4A Conference.

The Raiders never trailed in the game and posted a 59-36 final score.

Midway started strong forcing a Cougar timeout just 3 minutes into the game. The Raiders were leading 11-2. The lead was 19-8 at the end of the 1st period.

In the 2nd quarter, the Raiders struggled early and did not score until the 3:55 mark. A 3 pointer by Jackson Carr and 9 straight points from Shyheim Small made it 31-20 at intermission.

South Brunswick would not get any closer. Midway scored the 1st 9 points of the 2nd half, including 6 by Marelle Bullock. The Cougars took a timeout trailing 40-20. At the end of 3 frames, the Raiders held a 47-26 lead.

Eight of Midway’s 12 points in the 4th period came at the free throw line as the Raiders coasted to the 59-36 victory.

Small led a balanced Raider attack with 13 points. Bullock provided 10, while Paris Smith added 8. Dariuss Perez had a dunk off an offensive rebound, a 3 pointer, and a free throw, for a total of 6 points. Carr and Greg Orr scored 5 each. Griffin Williams connected for 4 points. Michael Kramer and Austin Raynor had 3 a piece. Ayden Canady scored 2.

“I thought we had a strong first quarter,” asserted Midway head coach Matthew Creech. “We really did a lot of good things. From that point, I thought we kinda just did the average, just enough to get by. We’re still learning how to keep our foot on the gas and put teams away. I thought we had a lot of opportunities to really end this one earlier than we did. We’re still growing, we’re still learning. We beat a good 3A school tonight.”

The Raiders, 9-0, were to play the winner of the Whiteville-West Bladen game on Tuesday. The Cougars fall to 3-4.

Reach Danny McDowell at [email protected]

By Danny McDowell

Sports Writer

Raider Greg Orr nails a 3 pointer against the South Brunswick Cougars in the Woodman Life Holiday Tournament Monday
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_S.Brunswick-015.jpgRaider Greg Orr nails a 3 pointer against the South Brunswick Cougars in the Woodman Life Holiday Tournament Monday

Midway’s Paris Smith gets an early basket versus South Brunswick at West Bladen High School Monday in tournament play
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_S.Brunswick-005.jpgMidway’s Paris Smith gets an early basket versus South Brunswick at West Bladen High School Monday in tournament play