Harriman Xmas classic - Girls' Basketball

By Justin Braden

HARRIMAN, TN -

Pickett County vs. Midway

The Midway Lady Wave fell to the Pickett County Lady Bobcats 77-44 on Friday night at Harriman Middle School. 

The Lady Wave (7-4, 0-1 in 1A-District 4) struck first when Kyleigh Cawood found Addie Armes open in transition. The senior forward pulled up a contested three that found the bottom of the net.

Then, the defending 1A state champions, Pickett (10-2, 0-0 in 1A-District 7), put the state on notice early and reminded everyone that they are not only defending but reigning champions, unleashing a full-court press early on Midway that resulted in an 11-0 run.

“We fought. We get behind like that, and the easiest thing to do is lay down, but our kids didn’t,” said Midway head coach Tim Smith.

Forced to rely on the perimeter for points, Midway was forced outside by Pickett’s physicality. Cawood pulled up a three-pointer in transition before halftime, but the Lady Wave finished the night with only 6 threes. 

Smith learned more about his team against a state-champion-caliber opponent. The first-year head coach praised his team's defensive performance against a team that had a solid inside presence. 

“I learned who can take all this contact. The refs didn’t call a lot of fouls on either side, and it’s good to deal with that,” said Smith.

Pickett 27 20 17 13 - 77

Midway 10 11 17  6 - 44

Leading Scorers

Pickett (10-2):

Zoey Nicholas 21, Kaylee Tompkins 21, Emmy Lowe 15, Emma Tompkins 11, Callie Reeder 6, Kylie Wood 3, Addy Lowe 2

Midway (7-4):

Kyleigh Cawood 16, Addie Armes 9, Kiersten Ruffner 8, Abbie Parks 6, Tatum Collier 3, Daylee Edwards 2, Chloe Jarnigan 1

3 Pointers

Pickett 6 (K. Tompkins 3, Nicholas 1, E. Tompkins 1, Wood 1)

Midway 6 (Cawood 2, Parks 2, Armes 1, Ruffner 1)

Farragut vs. Midway

“It doesn’t benefit you when you play weaker opponents. We need to play hard teams because we learned the most about ourselves that way,” said Midway head coach Tim Smith. 

Midway lost 76-51 to Farragut on Day 2 of the Harriman Christmas Classic at Midway Middle School. The loss diminished the Lady Wave’s (7-5, 0-1 in 1A-District 4) momentum, as they entered the weekend having won 6 out their last 8 games, but Smith had a lot of takeaways from the loss. 

The matchup between the two was a natural mismatch. Farragut (8-4, 0-0 in 4A-District 4) entered the game as the heavy favorite, being the 4A challenger to the tournament, but the Lady Wave hung tight with the Lady Admirals early. 

“We played pretty well defensively, but they hit about 8 threes in the first half,” said Smith. “We learned who handles the pressure the best. It’s easy to quit when it gets physical, but I learned our kids - they kept fighting.”

The game was tied until a 17-5 run by the Lady Admirals ended the 1st quarter. Farragut rotated some of its larger inside players out to the perimeter to take away the Lady Wave’s three-point shot. The strategy worked and held Midway to only 5 three-pointers. 

The Lady Wave have struggled to establish an inside threat offensively or defensively this season. Cloa Copeland’s season-high 8 points may have hinted at some promise for Midway's inside game. 

“I thought, Cloa Copeland was better inside. That is something we were trying to work on late in the game. Can we work it inside and kick it out? Because we need that inside presence. We don’t have that inside presence, and every team that does have that gives us trouble,” said Smith. 

Kyleigh Cawood continued to challenge the Lady Admirals' defense in the second half. The junior got open and pulled up a turnaround three-pointer that was heavily contested but still found the bottom of the net. 

“They battled even though it was very physical. Kyleigh battles inside for rebounds, even though she’s giving up a foot of height, she still battles,” said Smith. 

Midway has another test next Friday, January 3rd against 2A Scott County (11-3). Despite the weekend's losses, the Lady Wave remain one of the favorites in their district, but Harriman and Oakdale are emerging as serious contenders to the defending champions' title. 

Farragut 24 21 19 12 - 76

Midway   12  7  18 14 - 51

Leading Scorers

Farragut (8-4):

Jacie Neubert 25, Gabbie Vanacker 10, Annie Priest 9, Lilly Mullins 7, Trinity Curry 6, Zoe Porter 6, KJ McNealy 5, Reagan Sheridan 4, Anna Corum 2, Kyra Wray 2

Midway (7-5):

Kyleigh Cawood 12, Abbie Parks 9, Tatum Collier 9, Cloa Copeland 8, Addie Armes 7, Alayna Abner 3, Daylee Edwards 3

3 Pointers

Farragut 13 (Neubert 5, Priest 3, Porter 2, Vanacker 2, McNealy 1)

Midway 5 (Abner 1, Armes 1, Cawood 1, Edwards 1, Parks 1)

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