The MHS Lady Waves overcame poor shooting in the first half to beat Sweetwater 71-60. Meanwhile, the Midway boys showed flashes of good basketball but didn’t play up to their usual standards, allowing the Wildcats to take the win, 54-51.
In the first three minutes of the game, the Lady Waves attempted seven three-pointers before taking their first shot inside the arc. Unfortunately, only one of those seven attempts was successful. This trend continued throughout the first half, with Sweetwater leading 26-24 at the break.
Sweetwater continued to sit back in a zone defense, tempting Midway to keep shooting from deep. This time, however, the shots started to fall. Armes, Cawood, Parks, and Ruffner all began hitting their marks, and even Copeland joined in, sinking one from deep. With two minutes remaining and down by 10, Sweetwater was forced to foul. The Lady Waves sealed the game from the free-throw line.
Kyleigh Cawood led the scoring with 20 points, followed by Addie Armes with 15 and Abbie Parks with 14. Kiersten Ruffner added 9 points, and Cloa Copeland contributed 5.
Similar to the girls’ game, the Midway boys started off slow, managing only 8 points to Sweetwater’s 15 in the opening quarter. Sweetwater extended their lead in the second quarter.
The Waves went on a run to start the third quarter, taking a 27-26 lead, their first of the game. However, every big bucket Midway made down the stretch was answered by Sweetwater. Costly turnovers in the closing minutes proved too much for the Waves to overcome against a confident Wildcats team, resulting in Midway’s first loss of the season, 51-54.