Alyssa Wrench scores for the Lady Raiders on Tuesday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Midway split East Central 2-A Conference varsity basketball contests with visiting Wallace-Rose Hill Tuesday, taking the girls game, but falling in the boys game.
A third-quarter surge led Midway to a 55-47 win over Wallace in the girls game.
“We didn’t do some things that we needed to do,” said Midway girls coach Allen McLamb. “Defensively, I didn’t think we played that bad. But offensively, I thought we did a lot of standing and we thought we could come out here and win without doing anything. Giving Wallace their credit, they came out and played hard. When we don’t move, we don’t push the ball up the court and we stand on offense, we do horrible.
“In the second half, I had to get out of my rotation that I like to play because I had to get all my shooters on the court at one time. They didn’t quit. I think we played hard. It wasn’t pretty, but we did play hard. That gives us another win in the conference and that’s what we needed.”
A pair of seniors led the way for the Raiders (14-2, 3-2 ECC). Alyssa Wrench had a double-double, with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and J.J. Sankey had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.
Kris McKoy had seven points and seven rebounds. Alexis Jackson had six points and three steals. Allison Belflowers had five points. Jenna Pope had four points. Sydney Williams had two points, rive rebounds and three steals. Kayla Jackson had two points.
Junior Angel Pearsall had 22 points and senior Shiaries Carlton had 17 points to lead the Bulldogs (4-5, 1-3).
Neither team shot well at the free throw line. Midway was 17-for-39 (43.6 percent) at the line and Wallace was 19-for-38 (50 percent).
After leading 30-27 at halftime, Wallace held a 31-27 lead in the fourth when a Belflowers free throw, followed by four unanswered points from Wrench started Midway on a 17-6 run to hold a 44-37 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Bulldogs battled in the fourth, but the Raiders outscored them 13-10 in the quarter to hold on for the win.
A rough start to each half was costly for Midway in the boys game as Wallace took a 96-84 win.
“We’ve got to come out ready. We’ve got to come out stronger,” said Midway boys coach Joseph Easley. “I felt like we didn’t come out ready in the first half. We got down. We understood what kind of energy and enthusiasm Wallace-Rose Hill was playing with and then we started to match it. We started to cut into that deficit and made a great run going into the locker room.
“Then in the second half, we came out and they went on a 19-2 run, I think it was, and put us in a situation where we had to press. And I think our energy picked up when we started pressing and getting the tempo going up a little bit. We still gave up too many easy layups in transition. But I felt like we were doing a lot better on the offensive end. We just can’t put ourselves in a situation where we’re down by so much. I thought our guys fought hard, but I think we’ve got to put it together for four quarters.”
Four players scored in double figures for the Raiders (5-11, 0-5). Junior Jamar Autry had 29 points, senior Bryson Core had 18 points, senior Dalton Cannady had 13 points and junior Jaden Covington had 10 points.
Carsse Lucas had six points, Brandon Cousar had four points and Zack Fann and Cameron Barefoot had two points apiece.
The Bulldogs (6-6, 3-1) had five scorers in double digits. Senior Kameron McGee had 31 points, junior Shontrez Simmons had 21 points, junior Jalen Tuten had 14 points, junior Nick Dobson had 13 points and sophomore Jahon Owens had 11 points.
The free throw line kept the Raiders in the game, as Midway shot 26-of-33 (78.8 percent) at the line, led by Autry’s 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) shooting, and Wallace shot just 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) at the line.
“That helped us get back in it,” Easley said.
Wallace opened the game with a 10-0 run, but Midway battled back, cutting the lead all the way down to two, at 32-30, when Core hit a three-pointer to end the first half.
But Wallace came out strong again in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 21-2 run.
Midway fought back in the fourth quarter, outscoring Wallace 36-29, but could not overcome the deficit.
Wallace-Rose Hill is at Hobbton and Midway meets Neuse Charter at Campbell’s Gore Arena on Wednesday night.
Kris McKoy scores for the Midway girls against Wallace-Rose Hill.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Jaden Covington (34) gets a basket for the Midway boys.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Midway’s Bryson Core ends the first half with a three.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Carsse Lucas (50) scores for Midway’s boys, who play at Campbell tonight.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
