Sweetwater at Midway - Girls' Basketball

KINGSTON, TN –

By Justin Braden 

The Midway Lady Wave won their first home game of the season, taking a 71-60 victory over the Sweetwater Lady Wildcats on Tuesday night at Midway High School. 

Sweetwater made the trip to Midway coming off a Monday night loss on the road to Sequoyah, but the Lady Wildcats lit the scoreboard up first when Center Brooklyn Gibby laid it in inside the paint after the Lady Wave turned the ball over on their first possession. 

The Lady Wave transitioned quickly and got the ball into the hands of Kyleigh Cawood. The guard pulled up an ominous three-point shot from the right of the wing and drained it to give Midway their first lead of the evening. 

“We shoot a lot of threes. We’re living by them. We’re set shooters, so we need to catch the ball clean so we can shoot,” said Midway head coach Tim Smith. 

On the other end of the court, Sweetwater missed two shots before Gibby grabbed the rebound and finished the put back for two, and on their next possession, the Lady Wildcats continued to establish their inside presence, this side with guard Lilly Woodruff driving inside and finishing to extend their lead. 

Trying to pass around Sweetwater’s zone defense, from the top of the key, Midway sophomore Daylee Edwards passed the ball over to senior Abby Parks who sunk a 3 from the right of the wing to tie the game at 13 at the end of the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, Sweetwater extended its lead to 5 with Woodruff having success driving the lane, but Edwards cut the lead to two for Midway, pulling up a three from the left wing with 35 seconds left that cut the Lady Wave’s deficit to 26-24. 

Sweetwater’s strategy was clear as the second half continued – refuse to lose inside. The Lady Wildcats defended the paint so well, it became their own demise in the second half. Halfway through the third quarter, Parks started using inside motion, driving the lane and drawing defenders from the perimeter to open shooters outside.

“We just talked at halftime about how we just have to keep shooting open shots. You miss every shot you don’t shoot and when you’re open, you have to take those shots,” said Smith. 

Parks’ first target was Addie Armes. Armes, who scored all 12 of her points in the second half on three-pointers, stayed home on the perimeter while her defender bailed to follow the ball inside, and pulled up her first three of the night. 

The fourth quarter began with Sweetwater in serious foul trouble. Kylie Baylog, Gibby, Maddy Sewell, and Woodruff, the Lady Wildcats' most effective defenders during the first three quarters, were all at four fouls. 

Armes pulled up a heavily contested three-pointer that found the bottom of the net to extend Midway's lead to 4, and then senior Cloa Copeland took advantage of the Lady Wildcats' defense out of possession and buried a three – the 13th three-pointer for Midway. 

Sewell and Woodruff fouled out, leaving a clear path to Cawood to close the game. The junior hit 6 of 6 from the foul line in the fourth to ice Sweetwater for the win and send Midway into the Thanksgiving break with some serious momentum. 

Smith, in his first season as the head coach of the Lady Wave, acknowledged the differences in his new offense but spoke of promise in the program that is heavily rooted in the team’s senior leadership and its relentless attitude. 

“I see kids that are hungry and want to win. (The offense) is a little different than what they are probably used to. We want to run up and down the court and shoot threes. Our kids can shoot. Sometimes it's not going to look very good, but we're going to look like All-Americans when we're making our shots," said Smith. 

MVP of the game –Kyleigh Cawood. Cawood was the offensive leader for the Lady Wave, and her free throws down the stretch in the fourth quarter helped put the game on ice in the closing minutes. Her 7 rebounds were critical against a Sweetwater team that matched up well physically with Midway inside. 

Sweetwater  13 13 17 17 - 60

Midway           13 11 18 29 - 71

Leading Scorers

Sweetwater Wildcats (1-3, 0-0 in 2A-District 3)

Lilly Woodruff 21, Brooklyn Gibby 8, Alysa Gage 8, Kylie Baylog 3, Macie Davis 2, Kendall Tyler 2

Midway Green Wave (2-1, 0-0 in 1A-District 4)

Kyleigh Cawood 20, Addie Armes 15, Abbie Parks 14, Kiersten Ruffner 9, Tatum Collier 5, Cloa Copeland 5

Follow Justin Braden on X @jkbradenco for more prep sports coverage and an opportunity to comment on this article and others. 

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