Allison Belflowers goes up for a contested shot.
Lady Raiders win basketball opener; boys fall
Grant Naylor passes the ball to a teammate at the top of the key.
Riley Williams goes up for a layup under the basket.
Thornton Baggett drives the lane late in the game.
The Midway Basketball teams kicked off their seasons on Wednesday night, diving straight into conference play when they welcomed in James Kenan for an East Central Conference showdown. In the first game of the evening, the Lady Raiders earned a 63-47 win in the opener while the ice-cold Raider boys fell 55-30.
Girls
Donning masks as required due to ongoing COVID-19 issues, both teams settled in and battled to the very end. After overcoming a slow start and a speed bump in the fourth quarter, it was the Lady Raiders who got hot and secured the victory, 63-46.
In the first quarter, Midway held a slight advantage throughout with James Kenan occasionally tying the score. That was especially the case down the final stretch of the quarter, but the Lady Raiders secured a basket to make it 12-10 Midway after one.
In the second quarter, the Lady Raiders opened a slim margin in the early going. Generating points off of turnovers, Midway increased their lead to 19-11. They continued this small spurt and ran their lead to double-digits at 23-13 with 3:45 left in the half. The lead got as high as 29-13 and 31-15 but the final tally of the half was 31-18 with Midway in control.
Out of the halftime intermission, the Lady Raiders exploded. Kris McKoy led the charge as Midway’s lead surged to 20 points. With 2:23 on the clock, a stoppage in play displayed a 46-26 MHS advantage. Their defense really stiffened as the Lady Raiders continued a relentless charge. The held the Lady Tigers scoreless the last 2:23 of the third quarter and led 53-26 headed to the final frame.
With play well into the fourth quarter, James Kenan mounted a 12-0 run as the Lady Tigers turned up the intensity. Midway struggled to hold onto the ball and at the same time their foul count really began to climb. They couldn’t generate a score while James Kenan chipped into the deficit. With an injury bringing about a timeout, the clock rested at 3:55 and the Lady Raiders holding a 53-39 lead. Finally with 3:30 on the clock, Alyssa Hargrove broke the ice with a layup but the Lady Tigers continued to apply pressure. Still, Midway cleaned up their act enough down the stretch and upheld the victory, winning 63-46.
McKoy led the way for Midway with 20 points, followed by Riley Williams with 24. Allison Belflowers, Makenzie Hudson, and Hargrove each had 7.
Now 1-0 overall and in conference, the Lady Raiders took to the road at Goldsboro this past Friday for another conference tangle.
Boys
In the first quarter, it was a struggle for both teams to find any baskets. James Kenan hit a pair of threes to reach a 6-0 lead, but other than that both teams were staggering. Tyler Godwin finally got Midway on the board with a breakaway layup, making the margin 6-2 with about 5:00 left in the quarter, but at the official 4:00 timeout, the score still sat at 6-2. The Tigers broke that streak on a quick steal and layup, making it 8-2, then followed that with a 3-ball on the ensuing possession to make it 11-2. Unfortunately for Midway, their shots just weren’t falling. Even free throws rimmed off as the Raiders stayed parked at two points. Meanwhile, James Kenan began connecting on threes and were really starting to gain separation. The first period mercifully came to an end with the scoreboard displaying a 16-2 Tigers lead.
Not much changed the second quarter with both teams continuing to struggle to secure baskets. The score had only moved to 21-6 by the end of the half, but a buzzer-beating half court three-pointer by the Tigers was demoralizing for Midway as the Raiders walked off the court facing a 24-6 deficit.
Out of the break, Godwin was able to manufacture points for the Raiders, but the hill was still steep. James Kenan had stepped up their level of play and was at a high intensity, turning turnovers into baskets. Midway’s struggling offense was beginning to catch up as the Tigers led 42-18 after three quarters.
Unrelentingly, James Kenan continued to rain down three pointers as the game began to get even more away from the Raiders. With the end result of the contest inevitable, the final quarter drew to a close as James Kenan was able to celebrate a 55-30 victory.
Scoring leaders for Midway were Tyler Godwin with 12 points, Israel Firstov-Cook with six points, and Michael Barrow and Trey Gregory each with four points.
Midway is now 0-1 on the season and was scheduled to pay Goldsboro a visit on Friday.
Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].