Tuesday night was the final regular season game for Midway. The seniors were honored on the night. The results of the District standings would come down to the final game of the season. A win over Rockwood would cap off a great second half of the season for the Lady Waves and would put them in 3rd place in the District. A loss and they would finish 4th, behind Rockwood. For the boys, a win would mean a 2nd place finish in the District…and loss would drop them one spot to 3rd place, behind Grace and Harriman.
Girls Game:
The game started out slow offensively for both teams. The two teams only managed 2 points in the first 6 and a half minutes of the opening stanza. The game would pick up in the second period and the visiting Lady Tigers would take a 19-15 lead into half time.
The Lady Waves have been hot as of late, but their legs showed some wear during the first 16 minutes of the game. Hayley Roberson was in foul trouble and the Lady Waves were looking for offense……that’s when freshman, Alisa Barger, stepped up. Alisa has shot well for the Lady Waves and more importantly, she doesn’t shy away from taking any open jumper. The freshman was money last night; knocking down jumper after jumper, to push the Lady Waves into a 26-23 lead to start the 4th period.
She continued with the hot hand into the final 8 minutes and senior Hayley Ladd made some big plays and knocked down several key free throws to ice the 41-28 win.
Seniors Hayley Parks, Chelsea Phillips and Haley Ladd were honored during their final regular season game. Parks has been nothing but an inspiration to all the last 12+ months. Hayley suffered a major knee injury last year; but through dedication, she rehabbed herself back to the court this year. But it wouldn’t come easy. She re-injured the knee forcing yet another surgery. But yet again, she battled back and returned to the action…do you think the girl loves the game of basketball? Chelsea Phillips has played a major key in the rebuilding of Lady Wave basketball. She dedicated herself to the team and no one could ask for anything more. To quote several Midway fans, “”that girl works her butt off!” Haley Ladd is a 5’7” forward who deserves a lot of credit for the team’s recent success. Ladd may not have those big scoring nights; however, she does those things required to win. Not turning the ball over, getting the loose ball, defense, rebounds, along with knocking down the shot, are what Haley Ladd brings to the floor. To make a long story short….when the season finally comes to an end, newly named Boyd Woody Gymnasium will miss these 3 young ladies.
Boys Game:
The Greenwaves and Tigers exchanged goals for the first 8 minutes of the game. One could tell from early on that this was going to be a close game till the final buzzer. Similar to recent games, the Waves struggled to score from the paint and the Tigers would take a narrow 28-23 lead into the half. The Waves continued to struggle to start the 3rd quarter and the Tigers lead would extend to double-digits. But the Waves rallied behind a freshman. Caleb Ruffner knocked down some shots, including a great drive into the heart of the Tiger defense for a layup and a foul, and the Waves started to chip away at the lead.
The Tigers led 40-32 to start the 4th. It appeared that Rockwood’s lead would extend but once again, the Waves made a surge after senior Paul Wiley connected a couple times from behind the arc. The Tiger lead was cut to 4, 48-44, with 60 seconds remaining in the game; however, the Waves would go scoreless during the final minute and the Tigers took the game, 50-44.
The names of the seniors you may have heard before……Wakon Roberson, Zach Hall and Paul Wiley. Wiley has been an anchor in the Waves backcourt for his entire basketball career. Over the last 2 years, this skinny white boy has knocked down big shots from waaaay down town. Many remember one of his best games when he almost single-handedly led the Waves to victory over Greenback last year. Zach Hall went from being a tall, clumsy, freshman to a dominate force as a junior and senior. Zach is one of the best shot blockers to have ever worn the green and white – think Dikembe Mutombo without the finger wave. And when he returned for his senior year, it was obvious that he’d worked on his offensive moves as well. Zach added strong post moves and became a scoring threat to accompany his defensive skills. As a freshman, Wakon got a lot of playing time. His height and leaping ability laid the foundation to what would become a solid scoring machine for the Waves. Wakon added some needed pounds to his tall frame over the last 2 years making him even harder to defend and keep away from the rim. When Wakon is on, he is almost impossible to stop and is a lot of fun to watch. Though we don’t have exact numbers, we do know that Wakon is nearing (or perhaps has already hit) the 1,000 points mark for his career.
So you ask, how do you replace these 3 players? You don’t. But the underclassmen will step up with their own strengths to fill the void and continue to put marks in the win column for Midway basketball.
The District tournament begins Thursday and the Lady Waves finish the regular season in 3rd place in the District and will host the 1st round playoff game against Greenback on Thursday at 7pm. The boys also finished 3rd and will host Greenback at home on Friday at 7pm.
Photos from Tuesdays game can be seen by clicking on the galleries link.