Tipping off the 2019 campaign, the Midway High School Lady Raiders hosted the West Bladen Lady Knights on Monday evening, kicking off non-conference action. In a hard-to-buy-a-bucket affair, Midway pulled away from the visitors in the fourth quarter to skirt by West Bladen, 39-33.
Abetted by some very early season jitters that lead to turnovers on both sides, it quickly became quite clear that the tilt would be defensively dominated.
After a quick eight minutes of action, Midway held an 11-8 perch over West Bladen.
While that lead looked and seemed to be insignificant, any kind of advantage in a game like this would prove to be valuable.
The Lady Raiders continued to hold a small but pesky lead into the second quarter.
West Bladen cut it to 18-17 with two minutes to go before the half but Lady Raider Rylie Williams served up a corner three to restore a four point Midway lead, 21-17.
Giving up two more from the stripe, though, the Lady Raiders clung to a 21-18 halftime lead.
A change of halves did not signal a change of play, either. In fact, it was harder to find the basket in the
second half than it was in the first.
A combined five points were scored in the third quarter, resulting in a 23-all deadlock with eight
minutes left to decide this opening season matchup.
Comparatively speaking, fans experienced an offensive explosion, in the fourth quarter. Things came
much easier in the paint for the Lady Raiders. thanks to fast breaks. Indeed, Midway’s lead swelled to 35-24 with 2:04 to go which prompted a timeout from the Lady Knights.
Coming out of the breather, West Bladen went on a 9-4 run, but it wasn’t enough as the clock struck double zeros to close the doors on a 39-33 victory for the Lady Raiders.
Leading Midway statistically was Rylie Williams with 11 points followed by senior Caitlyn Holland, who returns to the basketball court after a two year hiatus, with nine points. Kris McKoy added seven points.
The Lady Raiders struggled from the free throw line in their opener, sinking just 6-of-18 freebies.
Still, Midway starts off at 1-0. The Lady Raiders will hit the road for their next contest this Friday when they travel to Neuse Charter. Game time is at 6 p.m.