Kingston, TN –
By Justin Braden
The season is over for the Midway Lady Wave after they fell on Saturday night to the North Greene Lady Huskies 33-31 at Midway Middle School.
The game will be remembered for its 4thquarter conclusion, a gut-wrenching 8-second sequence of ups and downs, but that should not overshadow the Lady Wave’s season, the Lady Huskies’ 5thconsecutive trip to the state championship in Murfreesboro, and the conclusion to Midway senior Kali Kile’s prep basketball career.
The game tipped off at Midway Middle School, with North Greene winning the opening tip, and the Lady Huskies scored first, with Center Hannah Miller laying it in off a quick inbound underneath the basket.
North Greene began an 11-0 run throughout the first quarter and into the second quarter, to extend its lead to 17-6, but Midway fought back into the game in the second, fueled by junior Abbie Parks who hit a three-pointer on one end of the court, before she showcased her defensive closing speed for a block on the other end.
“She has really improved this year. She does everything she’s asked to do. She’s a super kid, and I’m so proud of her,” said Midway head coach Mike Hayes after the game.
The Lady Huskies led 21-17 at halftime, but in the third quarter, the Lady Wave took their first lead of the game right before the third quarter ended, off of senior Kali Kile’s rebound and putback that gave Midway a 26-24 lead heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter opened with Miller tying the game for North Greene, and Midway would struggle to find scoring all quarter, compiling only 5 points in the final 8 minutes.
“We just struggled running our offense. They knocked us off course. They’re a physical team,” said coach Hayes of North Greene’s defensive performance.
With only 51 seconds left, North Greene led 33-29 but missed 4 free throws on two consecutive trips to the line, before Midway sophomore Kyleigh Cawood drove the lane, drew a foul, and headed to the line with only 30 seconds left.
Cawood hit both shots to close the Lady Huskies’ lead to 33-31, but a foul on the other end of the court with 19 seconds left sent North Greene to the line again, but they again missed both shots before Cawood got the rebound and pushed the ball in transition.
Cawood found Kile open in the corner, but she missed a three-pointer that would have given Midway the lead. Parks fouled out with 9.5 seconds left and gave the Lady Huskies another opportunity to close out the game.
Miller, at the line for North Greene, missed both free throws and the second missed foul shot went out of bounds off of the Lady Huskies.
With 8 seconds remaining, freshman Tatum Collier inbounded the ball for Midway, and with all of North Greene’s defenders in a full-court press, the Lady Wave’s side of the court was free of all Lady Huskies’ defenders.
Kile broke free of the defensive containment, sprinting down the sideline, before crossing half-court and cutting toward the three-point line as Collier heaved a football-style Hail Mary pass through the air.
As Kile went to catch the ball, contact was clearly made between her and a North Greene defender, but no foul was called, and Baley recovered the ball for the Lady Huskies.
Cawood closed quickly to foul Baley, and to avoid extending the game again at the foul line, she ditched the ball quickly to Miller who appeared open in North Greene’s backcourt, but Kile, now having recovered from the defensive take down, reappeared to steal the ball.
Kile stole the ball off the pass with 1.5 seconds left, turned, and fired from the foul line, but the ball struck the front of the iron and fell short of tying the game, and North Greene began to celebrate another trip to the state championship quarterfinals.
For Kile, the only graduating senior for the Lady Wave, she leaves behind a team that is better than when she found it. In her freshman season, Midway was 12-14, and in her sophomore year, the team went 9-16, losing in the first round of the regional tournament both seasons. But in her junior year, Midway had its first winning season since 2019, going 18-10 and winning its first regional tournament game since 2019 also.
“We only lose one senior, so all of them have a chance next year. The rest of them, we’re going to learn something from this,” said coach Hayes. “We have 15 players coming back, and some of the younger kids have some ability, and it’s going to be very competitive.”
MVP of the game – Kyleigh Cawood. Cawood attacked the rim as much as she could, taking on a larger, taller, and more physical team, and her third-quarter performance, hitting a three, and driving the lane for two, pushed the Lady Wave into the lead. She had 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.
North Greene 14 7 3 9 - 33
Midway 6 11 9 5 - 31
Leading Scorers
North Greene (26-10):
Hailey Bailey 13, Hannah Miller 7, Loren Blevins 6, Ella Head 5, Heidi Harmon 2
Midway (22-8):
Abbie Parks 10, Kyleigh Cawood 9, Addie Armes 6, Tatum Collier 3, Kali Kile 2, Chloe Jarnigan 1
Follow Justin Braden on X @jkbradenco for more prep sports coverage and an opportunity to comment on this article and others. Criticism and feedback of the media improve the quality of coverage given to student-athletes in east Tennessee.
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