Raiders running hot

The holiday break has come and gone and the Midway basketball teams took to the court on Wednesday night, hosting non-conference foe Spring Creek. In their first round of action in 2024, the Lady Raiders, who after a slippery start to the season, were riding a 3-game winning streak into battle against the Lady Gators. In their first meeting, Spring Creek was dominant in taking 39-19 win, but, it was Midway that took home a big win, claiming a 43-27 victory.

Both teams got points on their opening possessions, producing a 2-2 tie early. A pair of free throws put the Lady Raiders back out front and from there they settled in to making a living at the free throw line, where Midway built a 6-2 lead. Fouls against Spring Creek were really piling up as they had already committed four by the 5:40 mark and were trailing, 7-2. Later, more free throws and a three-pointer from Morgan Williams made it 13-4 Midway with 2:51 left in the opening frame. From there, things slowed down and at the end of the period, the Lady Raiders led 13-6.

A three-pointer for the Lady Gators brought the deficit down to five at the start of the second quarter and the tally was 13-9. A small Midway spurt, though, saw the Lady Raiders surge back to an 18-9 lead at the 5:05 mark. Later, a three-point play by Williams made it 23-11 as Spring Creek’s offense was stuck in the mud. Midway tacked on a pair of late jump shots that established their lead at 27-11 headed into halftime.

Out of the break, McKenzie Williams hit a three-point shot to run the Lady Raiders lead to 30-11. Both offenses really slowed down from there as the Lady Raiders really worked into a rhythm of working the clock down. As a result, at the end of the quarter, Midway led 34-15.

Spring Creek hit a quick spurt in the fourth quarter, getting back-to-back to scores to cut marginally into the lead at 34-19. After that, the teams were pretty even down the stretch and the Lady Raiders’ lead was never really challenged and they secured the 43-27 victory.

Leading the effort for Midway was Morgan Williams with 14 points and Herring and McKenzie Williams each had nine points. Ella Clark had seven points, Kara Beth Benton had four points, and Kyleigh Stonerock and Avery Strickland each had two points.

With the win, the Lady Raiders are now 5-4 overall. They were due back in action on Thursday, traveling to take on Rosewood.