The Midway girls basketball team stepped out of conference play on Monday night, traveling to take on the Lady Trojans of South Johnston High School. It certainly wasn’t the performance they were looking for, though, as they suffered their worst outing of the season in a 43-28 loss.

Midway didn’t get out to a great start. After a couple of scoreless minutes, South Johnston went on to score the games first six points. After that, Caitlyn Holland drained a three pointer and Kris McKoy converted a layup on a nice drive, getting the Lady Raiders back to within 6-5. The Lady Trojans, though, finished the quarter off with the final five points and took an 11-5 lead into the second quarter.

There, things mirrored the first quarter in the early going. Both teams kept the scoring to a minimum, with a three-pointer by South and a layup by McKoy reflecting a 14-7 score. Holland converted one free throw with 5:47 on the clock, making the score 14-8 and Midway transitioned into full-court defense.

Free throw shooting was the scourge of the Lady Raiders in the first half as they left plenty on the line. As such, 14-8 held true until Rylie Williams cleaned up a missed McKoy layup to make it 14-10 and prompt a South Johnston timeout with 4:11 on the clock.

With time slowing melting off the clock, back-to-back baskets by McKoy and Makenzi Hudson got the Lady Raiders back to within 16-14 with 1:54 on the clock. Midway finally finished climbing the mountain with 27.7 left on the clock, tying the game on another McKoy layup. However, a turnover by the Lady Raiders with 8.1 seconds left allowed the Lady Trojans to run the court on a fast break and reclaim the lead on a last second layup to make it 18-16 at the break.

Out of the half, a free throw by Rylie Williams got Midway back to 18-17 but the Lady Trojans mounted an 8-0 run to push the margin back to nine points at 26-17. A free throw by Alyssa Hargrove stopped the run but the Lady Raiders still trailed, 26-18. They went on to add one more bucket to make it 26-20 but a pair of three-pointers and free throws down the stretch saw the Trojans lead bust open to a 35-20 advantage at the end of the quarter.

For Midway, the story of the night was pour free throw shooting and just an overall poor play and production. They left eight free throws on the line, going 4-for-11 up to this point.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Raiders finally picked up production on offensive, mounting an 8-2 run to get back to 37-28. Foul trouble was catching up to them, though, as the Lady Trojans were in the double bonus. As the game shifted into the latter stages, time of possession really ticked up as South dominated the boards and fouls for Midway also climbed the ladder.

The game began to drag as each team was shooting free throws in the bonus but neither were converting. The Lady Trojans slowly pulled away as they nudged their way to a 43-28 victory in Midway’s worst offensive effort this season.

Losing to a 3-8 team overall probably wasn’t on the Lady Raiders agenda to begin the week, but a strong defensive effort by the Lady Trojans really hampered their play. McKoy led Midway with half of their points — 14. After that, the scoring dropped off significantly with Holland and Jenna Pope each recording four, Williams three, Hudson two, and Hargrove one.

With the loss, Midway is now 10-3 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Lady Raiders had no time to wallow in their sorrow as a quick turnaround trip against a surging Clinton squad was on the docket.

Midway’s Jenna Pope and Rylie Williams double team a Lady Trojans early on Monday.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_Jenna-and-Rylie.jpegMidway’s Jenna Pope and Rylie Williams double team a Lady Trojans early on Monday.

Midway’s Kris McKoy goes up for a two-point layup.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_Kris.jpegMidway’s Kris McKoy goes up for a two-point layup.
Offensive woes costly as Midway drops second straight

By Daron Barefoot

Sports Editor

Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].