Lady Raiders take down West Bladen

The Midway basketball teams finished off their week of athletics on Friday night, hosting West Bladen on the basketball court. First up in the evening was the Lady Raiders hosting the Lady Knights, who were looking to rebound from a big loss earlier in the week. After dodging a second-half comeback from West Bladen, Midway was able to do just that, picking up the 48-40 victory.

An early turnover greeted the Lady Raiders after the opening tip but West Bladen was unable to do anything with it and the game stayed scoreless. It took three minutes for either team to break the ice as it was the Lady Knights getting an early 2-0 lead. KaraBeth Benton hit a jumper from the left side and tied things up then nearly half of the quarter was gone when Midway signaled for timeout with the score tied two all. West Bladen reclaimed the lead out of the break but a Morgan Williams three-point play put the Lady Raiders back in the lead at 5-4. Midway enjoyed a quick little spurt down the stretch and at the end of the first quarter, they led 16-7.

Scoring settled again at the beginning of the second quarter but Benton continued her impressive shooting. Behind numerous three-pointers from Benton, Midway built a 26-10 lead. At the half, Midway led 29-15.

Out of the break, the Lady Knights connected on back-to-back three point shots to get back to within 29-21. Kyleigh Stonerock hit a jumper for the Lady Raiders, putting their lead back at 31-21, but West Bladen continued to hit shots. Each time, though, Midway had an answer and maintained their 10-point advantage. The pace was certainly much quicker in the third quarter and as a result points were piling up. From there, though, the game became sloppy and neither team produced much offense. Turnovers and fouls became the theme of the game down the stretch and at the end of the third period, Midway led 37-28.

Fouls became excessive at the start of the fourth quarter as Midway had been hit three-straight times. Offensively, the Lady Raiders were really struggling, allowing the Lady Knights to draw close again at 37-31. Benton finally got Midway on the board again, hitting a rebound layup to make it 39-31. Back on the other end, though, West Bladen converted a three-point play to cut back into the lead, making it 39-34 with 4:30 to go. Ella Clark went one-for two from the free throw line then after the teams exchanged a couple of empty possessions, there was a timeout on the court with 2:37 to go and the Lady Raiders leading 40-34.

Out of the break, Midway turned the ball over again and the Lady Knights sank a three-point shot to make it 40-37 with 2:04 left on the clock. Benton, though, was having the game of her life and single-handedly kept the Lady Raiders alive. She connected on back-to-back baskets and pushed the Midway lead back to 44-37. From there, the only thing the Lady Knights could do was foul, hoping to extend the game. The Lady Raiders did a nice job of hitting their free throws and held on for the win, claiming a 48-40 victory.

Benton led the effort for Midway as she was the only person to hit double digits at 23 points. Peyton Herring and Ella Clark each had seven points, Morgan Williams had three, Stonerock had four, and McKenzie Williams had one point.

The Lady Raiders improve to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in league play. A pair of road games greets Midway this week, first at Clinton on Tuesday and at Red Springs on Friday.