Midway sweeps the Dark Horses

In the late game on Friday night, the Dark Horse and Raider boys took the court, looking to put on as entertaining a game as the one before it. Midway took victory in the first matchup a couple weeks ago but Clinton was on a mission to take down their rival. The Dark Horses ran out of steam in the second half despite their efforts as the Raiders rallied for the 56-44 victory.

Clinton took the opening possession but was unable to make anything happen. After Midway also went empty, the Raiders got another defensive stop and turned on the jets. Baskets by Tanner Williams and Andre Gregory and a three-ball by Tripp Westbrook made it 7-0. A couple minutes later, Anthony Graham got a layup in the lane to make it 9-0. Clinton finally got on the board thanks to a Camden Davis three-pointer, making it 9-3 with 3:20 left in the first quarter. Despite Midway’s hot start, Clinton was keeping pace, trailing just 13-8 with 1:40 left in the first quarter and a timeout on the court. Things were fast-paced to close out the quarter and the Raiders led 14-8 at the end of one.

Throughout the second quarter, the Dark Horses heaved a ton of three-pointers that were off the mark. Garrison Hill finally connected on one and pulled Clinton back to within 16-13. For Midway, they were struggling. Turnovers and missed shots plagued them and the Raiders had only scored two points in five minutes. Then, another Hill three-ball tied the game up at 16-16 as Midway was spinning their tires. Landon Hammond finally got the Raiders on the board again but another Hill three-pointer put Clinton ahead at 19-18. The three-point spree continued for the Dark Horses down the stretch as E’keilyis Thomas hit back-to-back to make it 25-21 at the break.

Out of the break, Clinton ran their lead to six and after exchanging baskets, it was 30-23 as the Dark Horses continued to hit from beyond the arc. After a pair of Graham free-throws, Midway signaled for timeout trailing 30-25 with 5:47 on the clock. The Raiders mounted a little rally, capitalized by a three-pointer by Westbrook, bringing the tally down to 30-29. After an offensive foul was whistled on Clinton, Kemari McNeil hit a layup in the lane to put Midway back on top at 31-30. The Raiders streak continued as their lead hit 36-30. By the time the quarter had ended, Midway had surged ahead by double digits at 44-34.

The fourth quarter was a sloppy affair, littered with a plethora of missed shots from both teams. Still, Clinton had more luck scoring than Midway was losing ground quickly. Even free throws weren’t falling for the Raiders, who again weren’t scoring many points. Suddenly, the intensity picked up as Midway got going again with a three-pointer that catapulted the Raiders as what had been cut to a six-point deficit was back up to nine with the score 51-42 with under a minute to go. In the end, Midway claimed the victory, earning a season-sweep over the Dark Horses with a 56-44 win.

Scorers for Midway were Williams and Gregory with 12 points apiece. McNeil had 11 points, Westbrook had eight points, and Graham had six points. Jacob Holland had three points and Colin Woods and Hammond each had two points.

For Clinton, Hill had a game-high 14 points followed by Davis with 10 points. Thomas had eight points, NyShawn Sampson had four points and Jaymon Bryant and T.K. Raynor each had three points. Walker Spell had two points.

The Raiders are now 12-7 overall and 3-5 in conference play while the Dark Horses drop to 8-12 overall and 0-8 in league play.

Both teams will conclude the regular season this week as Midway hosts Red Springs on Tuesday then travels to St. Pauls on Friday. Clinton will host St. Pauls on Tuesday and Fairmont on Friday.