While some area schools are still in football playoffs mode, the Midway Raiders transitioned to winter sports this week as they hosted Princeton Friday night in hoops action. In the girls game, the Lady Raiders had to overcome a bit of a slow start but they eventually went on to post an impressive 77-39 victory.
Midway tallied the first two baskets of the game, quickly posting a 4-0 lead before the Lady Bulldogs pulled back even at 4-4. The teams then exchanged the lead throughout the quarter with Princeton leading by as much as 9-6 before Midway found their stride. With 2:25 left in the period, Leah Williams hit a three ball that put the Lady Raiders back on top for good as they led 15-9 after the first quarter.
Midway continued to distance themselves in the the second quarter as they ran their lead to double digits by halftime. In the second quarter, Princeton got as close as 21-17 before Midway sparked a rally. The Lady Bulldogs went scoreless the remainder of the half as Midway scored 14-straight to lead 35-17 at the half.
The second half was much like the second quarter as Midway continued to assert its dominance as the Raiders defense stymied the Lady Bulldogs. Midway twice flirted with the 40-point mercy rule but was never quite able to overcome that hurdle.
Both teams got into late game foul trouble as the pace of the game was frequently disrupted by the mounting fouls for both squads.
Midway would go on to win the game 77-39, but second-year head coach Allen McLamb found plenty of areas for his team to improve.
“We squandered some early golden opportunities to take charge. I feel like we came out slow and just didn’t do our best, but in the second half we played better, our defense played better; Going forward we found some areas we still need to work on improving,” said McLamb.
Midway will get the opportunity to see how they’ve adjusted in those areas on Tuesday when they travel to take on Hobbton.
For Midway, Williams had a solid scoring night as she totaled 32 points. JJ Sankey had 18, Logan Baggett had nine, Hannah Lucas and Jenna Pope each had eight and Alyssa Wrench added two points.