Last Friday, the Midway Greenwave faced off against long time district foe Greenback Cherokees.
In the girls game, the game remained close for 3 quarters but the Lady Waves went ice ice baby cold in the 4th, allowing the Lady Cherokees to escape with a 57-43 win. The game was also a tale of two halves for the officiating as well. In the first half, it was a bloody bout with the officiating crew “letting them play” and both teams taking full advantage and going for that knock-out punch nearly every trip down. However, the 2nd half was the complete opposite with consistent whistle blowing slowing the game pace down; which gave the Lady Cherokees a bit of an advantage against the scrappy gals in green.
The Lady Waves were unable to score inside against Greenback’s premier post play and Greenback’s point guard took over down the stretch. Haley Parks and Kathryn Beard provided the bulk of the Lady Wave offense but no one had an answer on defense.
Score by quarters:
1st: 20-14, Greenback
2nd: 27-24, Greenback
3rd: 39-36, Greenback
Final: 57-43, Greenback
In the boys’ game, Midway was unable to generate much offense in the first half and the Cherokees jumped out in front early. The Cherokees stayed in a 2-3 zone defense for the majority of the game; a defense that the Waves struggled against. Unable to knock down shots from the outside to weaken a zone, and unable to get the ball inside against Greenbacks big men, the Waves managed only 12 points in the first half and trailed 12-22 at the break.
However, the Waves would hang tough and closed the gap in the 3rd, cutting the lead to 4 entering the final stanza; 27-23. They would close the gap even more thanks to Mr. Paul Wiley. In the zone, en fuego…whatever you want to call it, Wiley simply could not miss. The ball was coming off his finger tips and touching nothing but net. Wiley was scoring by 3 and keeping his team in the game.
Unfortunately for Wiley & the Waves, it was not enough. Greenback managed to withstand the surge and walk out with a 38-34 win.
This week the Waves are on the road, traveling highway 27 to a place where the sun apparently shines a little more vivid, Sunbright.