The Midway GreenWave and Wartburg Bulldogs faced off Saturday night in a win or go home regional tournament game at Ruff Arena. The Waves would roll in the second half in a lop-sided, 74-41, victory.
Senior Evan Lemons put the team on his broad shoulders in the first quarter, racking up 8 points in the paint to help Midway take the early lead. The big man kept it rolling in the 2nd quarter, knocking down a 3-pointer and bringing the home crowd to their feet. The refs also brought the crowd to their feet as well….but that’s a different story. Cooper Queener would knock down a 3 and Dalton Cowell hit 5 of 6 from the charity strip before the half.
But after building out a double-digit lead, the Waves got bit hard by the turnover bug in the second quarter. Poor ball movement and lack of ball control allowed Wartburg to go on a late run and cut the deficit to just 2-points going into the half.
Coach Treadway and Coach Hall were able to circle the troops at halftime and the Waves came out in the 3rd quarter with more poise and broke down the Wartburg defense, rather than playing into the chaos. Peyton Steele and Queener would each knock down a 3-ball and the elusive Dalton Ronaldo, eh correction…Dalton Cowell, would exploit the Bulldog defense, putting up 8 points in the 3rd.
Cowell would continue to put on an offensive show in the 4th. The junior guard would put up 11 4th quarter points and silence the bark of the bulldogs. The game was capped off by a 3-pointer by Brylle Villagonza, his first of the season. Verdict is still out if he called bank or not.
Cowell led the scoring with a career-high 28 points on an impressive 10 of 12 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. Lemons had 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field. Steele and Brennan Reed each had 11. Reed had an all-around game with 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals to go along with his 11 points.
| 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | Final | |
| Midway | 16 | 31 | 52 | 74 |
| Wartburg | 11 | 29 | 37 | 41 |
Midway will play Jellico at Harriman High School on Tuesday in the semi-final round of the regional tournament. Tip off is at 6pm.