Senior Night festivities were underway Thursday night at Midway High School when Clinton travelled into Spivey’s Corner for the regular season basketball finale. An intense battle ensued between the two teams in a game that was very much back and forth. When the gun smoke settled, it was Midway that plowed their way to victory, stunning Clinton with a 46-44 victory.
Passion and desire was on full display for the Lady Raiders coming out of the gate. The energy was alive both on the court and on their bench. With some new faces in the starting lineup for Senior Night, quite a few players saw extended playing time that otherwise haven’t seen a whole lot. Ashante Warren was a big defensive presence that helped generate several turnovers. In fact, it wasn’t until she checked out of the game at the 1:19 mark that Clinton finally scored on a single free throw by Nakeviah Evans. After Midway initially opened a 6-0 lead, things slowed down dramatically as the Lady Raiders claimed an 8-1 lead after one quarter.
Action picked up quickly in the second quarter as the teams began to score at a rapid pace. The Lady Dark Horses were getting scoring from areas they aren’t used to getting them in the form of a three-ball and jump shot from Brittany Blackburn, whose five points provided a slight jolt for Clinton. Still, though, Midway maintained their advantage at the midway point of the period with a 16-9 lead. Then, Isa Banks – Warren’s primary assignment – worked herself free from the pesky Warren and scored five straight to tighten things up at 16-14. Still, though, the Lady Raiders held firm. They responded with five straight of their own and the lead was back to 21-14 with 1:03 left in the half. Like clockwork, though, a 6-0 run to end the half from Clinton made things close again as Midway clung to a 21-20 halftime lead.
With 6:21 on the clock in quarter number three, Clinton snagged their first lead of the game on a three-point play by Blackburn. Then, Banks came up with a steal and laid home another bucket to run the lead to 25-21. After a possession where Midway literally had to work for everything, the Lady Raiders finally countered Clinton’s 11-0 run with a field goal by Kaylah Jackson. There, things settled but a three-ball by Banks pushed the LDH lead to it’s highest at 31-24. Midway, though, answered with back-to-back baskets from Makenzi Hudson and Caitlyn Holland to make things close again at 31-28. Up and down the court things went but the buzzer sounded the end of the quarter with Clinton clinging to a 34-32 lead.
Tension really got high in the fourth as the action on the court was heating up. Midway surged back ahead for a 38-36 lead, despite foul calls going largely in Clinton’s favor (8-2). Then, Midway’s Kris McKoy seemed to come up with a clean steal but was tagged for a foul, much to the dismay of the Lady Raiders fan base and to coach Allen McLamb. Out of nowhere, a technical foul came flying in against McKoy, putting the Lady Horses at the charity stripe for three free throws. They completely squandered the opportunity, though, missing all three free throws and then coming up empty on their possession. Eventually, Banks hit two more free throws to tie things up at 38-38, but Sydney Williams hit a jumper from the baseline and Holland flushed a jumper to make it 42-38 with 2:57 to go. After an empty Midway possession, Evans hit a big three-pointer for Clinton to bring the tally to 42-41 with 2:14 left in the game. After a McKoy layup to put Midway up 44-41, Banks countered for Clinton with another three-ball with 1:00 to go, once again tying the game. With 54.1 left, McLamb signaled for timeout to see if he could set his team up for a winning shot. Indeed, out of the timeout, Rylie Williams put the Lady Raiders back out front on a short jumper, 46-44. Then, possession went back and forth before Holland was on the line with 8.1 left for a one-and-one. She missed the front end and Clinton came down with the rebound. With 4.6 left, the Lady Horses called timeout and were faced with going the length of the court. Out of the timeout they were unable to release a shot in time and Midway celebrated a momentous victory over Clinton, 46-44.
After the game, Midway head coach Allen McLamb spoke highly of his teams effort.
“Clinton played hard, as we expected they would,” he said “but this was by far the best effort my girls have give all season. Several players stepped up and played some of their best ball tonight. Now, we’re going to go and celebrate our senior night win,” he concluded.
Only four players scored for Clinton. Banks had 17 to lead all scorers while Blackburn finished with 14. Khaliah Chestnutt has eight and Evans finished with six. Clinton is now 16-6 overall and finishes at 9-3 in the East Central Conference.
For Midway, they had a fairly balanced offensive effort with eight different players getting into the score column. McKoy led the Lady Raiders will 11 points and Hudson and Holland were close behind with eight apiece. Sydney Williams, Rylie Williams, Jackson, and Warren all had four points and Allison Belflowers had three points. With the win, Midway is now 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the East Central Conference.
Both teams were slated to be in action in the East Central 2A Conference next week.
