Clean a public bathroom. Hang and finish sheetrock. Give up bacon. Exercise. Go grocery shopping. These are all things I would rather do than see Midway lose to Greenback. Unfortunately, Midway fans had to witness a pair of losses at Greenback on Friday night. The Lady Waves lost 34-46 on an off shooting night and the Midway boys fell 53-63 to a winless Greenback squad.
The Greenback Lady Cherokees has struggled on the basketball court with just 3 wins on the season entering Friday night’s game against Midway. Meanwhile the Lady Waves were riding a 5-game win streak (not counting Christmas tournament) and boasted a 6-2 regular season record. But the script was flipped Friday night. The Lady Waves didn’t play poorly. They didn’t have excessive turnovers or take bad shots; it was just one of those freaky Friday nights in Greenback where the basketball refused to drop in for the Lady Wave.
The first quarter ended with Greenback holding a 14-12 over the Lady Waves. Abbie Parks knocked down a couple treys to lead the Midway offense. But that would be about the only highlights in the first half of the game for the Lady Waves. The girls managed only 4-points in the second quarter, including just one made shot from the field. Lady Cherokees took a 22-16 lead into the break.
Swapping ends after halftime would be the key, right? After all, no one likes shooting on the north end with the burnt orange wall as the backdrop. But the Lady Waves shooting didn’t get any better on the south end. The Lady Waves managed only 3 made baskets in the third quarter and trailed 22-30 entering the 4th. Coach Hayes turned to freshman Tatum Collier in the 4th to give the offense a spark and she delivered. Collier, who has a pedigree rich with Lady Wave basketball players, knocked down 2 straight elbow jumpers to give Midway hope before exiting the game much to the bewilderment of the Midway faithful. Greenback made just enough free-throws (10 of 21) to counter any Midway surge down the stretch and the ‘kees would take the 46-34 victory.
Kyleigh Cawood scored 15 points, followed by Abbie Parks with 8. Collier and Addie Armes chipped in 4.
The Midway/Greenback boys’ game was as one would expect – a battle. Greenback is playing for pride. The Cherokees entered the game winless on the season and are unable to participate in district tournament due to the fight that transpired with Oakdale last month. But someone forgot to tell the ‘kees that they were not supposed to win. Greenback started the game on fire, scoring 21 points to open the game. They were hungry and more aggressive, out rebounding the Wave on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. Midway managed only 12 points with freshman Cooper Queener leading the scoring with a pair of 1st quarter 3’s.
Midway’s big man, Evan Lemons came alive in the second quarter, helping Midway to establish an inside presence. The senior would score 6 in the quarter, but the Wave still trailed 26-34 going into the half.
The offensive woes continued in the 3rd quarter for the Wave, scoring just 11 points in the third but defensively the Green Machine stepped up to hold Greenback to just 7 points on 3 made baskets from the field. Midway cut into the Greenback lead and trailed 37-41 entering the fourth and final stanza.
In the 4th, Queener would get some open looks and connect on 3 of 3 from behind the arc but that was the only offense the Wave were able to dial up. Forced to foul, Midway sent Greenback to the line where they scored 10 of their 22 points (hitting 10 of 16) to close out the game with a 63-53 win.
Queener led the scoring with 17 on 6 of 8 shooting, followed by Brennan Reed with 14 and Evan Lemons 11.
Midway travels to Wartburg on Tuesday.
Let me end by saying that after trips to Monterey and Greenback, it’s abundantly clear that the officiating crews out of the Knox South organization that we typically see work our Roane/Morgan County games are the best around and we owe them all a lifetime of free burger & crinkle fries from the Riverbend Deli for the lack of appreciation over the years.