Their Greatest Game

Kingston, TN –

By Justin Braden

Boys Basketball

The Midway Green Wave had their most complete performance of the season on Thursday night, rolling the Rockwood Tigers 44-38 to advance to the 1A- District 4 regional championship for the first time since 2003.

“That’s the biggest win we’ve had in 10 years,” said Midway head coach Ron Treadway, who in his first year as the Green Wave head coach, has cultivated a winning environment that Midway boys basketball has not had in decades.

Rockwood (17-7, 5-4 in 1A-District 4) won the opening tip off, and after both teams missed their opening shots, Tigers senior forward Alexander Norton drove the lane for the games first bucket of the night.

Then Midway (11-15, 3-6 in 1A-District 4) opened up a 7-0 run to take a lead that they would never relinquish, with Midway senior Center Evan Lemons scoring inside first, followed by junior Peyton Steele sinking a jumper, and capped off by freshman Cooper Queener pulled up a three-point shot in transition.

Only 10 points were scored combined from both teams in the second quarter, and the Green Wave took a 20-12 lead to halftime, continuing to contain Rockwood’s offense throughout the third quarter, for the second week in a row, using their 1-2-2 zone defense to slow the Tigers’ offense and keep Rockwood shooting outside.

Just as in the game between the two last Friday, in the fourth quarter, Rockwood senior guard Ty Pryor began a comeback for the Tigers, once again putting Midway on the ropes through the final moments of the game. 

Rockwood entered the fourth quarter down 36-20, but Pryor scored 11 of his 17 points over the final 5:10 of the game, including back-to-back three-pointers that cut Midway’s lead to 4 with only 44 seconds remaining. 

The Tigers had to foul quickly on the Green Wave’s inbound, but also had to foul 4 times to get to the bonus that sent Queener to the line for Midway. 

Queener hit one free throw to extend the lead to 5, then Pryor pulled up his final three attempt of the night for Rockwood on the other end, but it did not fall. Lemons grabbed the rebound, drew the foul, and drained both foul shots to close out the win for the Green Wave in front of a frenzied Midway crowd.

“All the credit goes to the kids. They’ve listened, they’ve learned, and they’ve worked hard every single day,” coach Treadway began. “Sometimes things just fit, but right now with this group of kids, we seem to fit together like a puzzle.”

Midway has undoubtedly found the missing pieces. The win was a balanced and complete performance for the Green Wave and they controlled the tempo of this game, showing their evolution defensively by containing Pryor again, and slowing an offense that scored 78 points on them in their first meeting only 10 days ago.

Treadway spoke endearingly of his team’s chemistry, “it’s just growth and that’s been the plan. We wanted to be ready, peaking, understanding everything in February, and that’s what’s happened. I think the chemistry has come together between the players and between the coaching staff and the players.”

The Green Wave, who have now won 5 of their last 7 games, continue to grow, and have shown more improvement than any other team in 1A basketball this year, but the number 1 ranked 1A team awaits them in the District 4A championship on Tuesday, and coach Treadway knows that it will take another perfect performance to take down the Harriman Blue Devils (23-2, 8-0 in 1A-District 4). 

“We’re going to have to stop (Harriman) collectively because as good as Jordan McCullum is, they’ve got 4 or 5 other good players, so we can’t just focus on him. We’re going to need another team effort like what you saw tonight.”

MVP of the game – Evan Lemons. Lemons had 8 points on the night, 4 of them on free throws late in the fourth quarter that kept the Tigers from closing the game to one possession, but most importantly, his defensive presence kept Rockwood out of the paint all night. 

Rockwood  8 4  8 18 - 38

Midway      14 6 13 11 - 44

Leading Scorers

Rockwood (17-7):

Ty Pryor 17, Alex Norton 10, Jaylon Reed 4, Laken Jolly 3

Midway (11-15):

Peyton Steele 12, Brennan Reed 9, Dalton Cowell 8, Evan Lemons 8, Cooper Queener 7

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