Leopards get revenge on Raiders

In the final game of Friday night action at Lakewood, the Leopards looked to get payback on Midway’s boy’s basketball team for their loss in the first game of the season, and play spoiler in the process. Lakewood was successful in both as they took the 54-47 win and gave the Raiders their first loss of the season.

It was Xavier Hall who won the tipoff for Lakewood, but a stout Raider defense got the takeaway. Anthony Graham got the game’s first points at the other end on another putback layup. He also scored the next basket in the game on a jumper at the free throw line after snagging an offensive rebound, and quickly the Raiders led, 4-0.

Hall scored Lakewood’s first point nearly two minutes into the contest on a free throw.

Everett Jackson got a big block on a Hall layup attempt, giving Midway possession momentarily until a travel was called. Cameron Williams took the ball to the hoop and fought through contact to sink a layup through a foul, but he was no good on his foul shot, making it a 4-3 game near the five-minute mark.

Just three minutes into the first quarter, the Raiders found themselves with four fouls despite having their slim lead. Lakewood’s Dashaun Carr sank one of his free throws to tie the game up with five minutes to play in the opening period.

Travis Gist gave the Raiders the lead once more on a layup, and Williams was no good at the other end on his midrange jumper attempt to tie things up. Midway scored again to make it 8-4 and Lakewood’s coach, Brandon Powell, signaled for the game’s first timeout with 4:04 to play in the first.

Midway’s Landon Hammond ran a floater in from the baseline to give them the six-point advantage at 10-4, as Lakewood had yet to score in multiple possessions and minutes.

Williams hit two free throws to cut the lead back to 10-6, still in favor of the Raiders.

Midway continued its tough defense, allowing very few opportunities for the Leopards to even have a look at the basket. This didn’t turn into many opportunities for themselves offensively, but they were at least keeping the home team from scoring.

Dashaun Carr hit one free throw, but Gist bounced back with a three at the one-minute mark to make it 13-7 with the Raiders still ahead. Nakai Owens sank another free throw, but once again Midway was there to return the favor as Gist hit a floater across the lane. Hammond hit a putback off a rebound to give them the 17-8 advantage as the first quarter ended.

Jacob Holland hit a free throw to open the second quarter’s scoring, but both teams struggled to add any more points shortly after.

A Nakai Owens three added points to the board for Lakewood, cutting the lead down to 18-11.

Hall assisted Dontaveous Smith on a long pass down the court after Smith poked the ball loose, which cut the visitors’ lead to 18-13 with a hair over five minutes to play in the half.

Graham hit another putback for Midway on his return to the game after picking up a couple quick fouls in the first. Jaziah Brunson swatted a layup from Kemari McNeil and Lakewood snagged the inbound pass, which led to a Hall putback at the other end to keep the Midway lead at 20-15. Brunson was fouled on a layup, and he was successful on the and-1 to shrink the lead to two.

Colin Woods gave the Raiders the 22-18 advantage just south of 1:30 left to play in the half on a baseline layup. Both teams were playing tough defense, with neither side getting a true advantage in rebounds.

Lakewood’s Devin Jones blocked a shot from Walker Holmes under the hoop to end the half, as Midway continued into the break with their same 22-18 lead.

It took 1:33 for either team to score and it was a three from Dashaun Carr to tighten things up to a 22-21 lead for the visiting Raiders. McNeil added a layup for them, and they stole a possession, but Hall swatted a shot from Graham at the elbow, so the score remained at 24-21.

Lakewood took the 25-24 lead with under five minutes to go in the quarter, but a three from McNeil gave the Raiders the 27-25 advantage. Cameron Williams tied things back up at 27 shortly after, before Xavier Hall gave them the 29-27 lead on the next possession. Neither team could connect on baskets for a stretch, and Midway called for the timeout with 2:32 remaining in the third period and Lakewood holding their 29-27 lead.

Dashaun Carr broke the scoring depression on a free throw to make it 30-27, but Everett Jackson shot back with a three t0 tie it up. Hall slammed home an open lane dunk to get the two-point advantage before another Midway triple took the lead back at 33-32. It was Cameron Williams this time on a jumper on the left side to propel the Leopards out to a 34-33 lead with a minute to play in the third.

The quarter broke with the same score as the teams battled it out down the backstretch, poising the fans for a high-stakes finish for a Friday night basketball game.

Another floater from McNeil opened the scoring for the fourth quarter and Midway took the 35-34 lead nearly a minute into the final period. A Brunson assist to Cameron Williams gave the hosting team the 36-35 lead and a fast break layup on a steal by Dontaveous Smith gave them the 38-35 advantage. An and-1 by Dashaun Carr stretched it out to a 41-35 lead on the successful foul shot.

Hall fouled Graham on a layup of his own, but he couldn’t complete the three-point play himself. Another Brunson layup at the other end, and the Leopards had the 43-37 lead with under five minutes to play.

A three from Midway tightened it back to 43-40, but another emphatic dunk from Hall gave the Leopards the five-point lead once more. Hall was called for the foul on Holland at the other end, who hit one of his two shots from the charity stripe to close things to a 45-41 lead.

The clock moved under three minutes to play with the same score but a Holland steal led to a fast break for the Raiders. Tanner Williams was called with a charge on the play, which thwarted Midway’s attempt at closing the gap even further.

Xavier Hall fouled out of the game with 2:19 to play.

Cameron Williams took a drive to the basket and made the layup through contact and connected on the and-1 to extend Lakewood’s lead to 48-41 with under two minutes to play.

Gist scored the first Midway point in a long period on a floater up the middle, drawing another foul from Lakewood in the process. He was successful on the and-1 foul shot, which made it a 48-44 Lakewood ball game with 1:28 to play.

The Leopards grabbed two points from free throws to make it 50-46, but a drive from McNeil ended with another successful three point and-1, which made it 50-47 with 1:06 left.

McNeil fouled out with exactly one minute to play, much to the excitement of the hometown crowd after a lengthy discussion with the officials.

A moving pick was called on Holland at the 45.9 second mark, giving Lakewood the ball back to try and kill as much of the clock as they could.

Dontaveous Smith got a steal at the end of the game for a breakaway layup attempt which wasn’t successful, but Cameron Williams was there for the cleanup. The score went final at 54-47.