The Charge of the Lady Waves – Midway Defeats Eagleville 53-51

By Terry Futrell/Morgan County Today

In The Charge of the Light Brigade,Tennyson described the brigade’s ride into battle, “Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell Rode the six hundred.” Tennyson closes his poem with “When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!” While there were only sixteen of them on the roster, not six hundred, the young ladies from South of the River that we know as the Midway Lady Waves made a charge in the 2019 Blue Cross Basketball Championships that is equally deserving of honor and that will long be remembered.

Appearing in the state basketball tournament for the first time since 1991, the Lady Waves earned a berth by defeating North Greene 54-52 in sectional play with Emily Cawood providing the go-ahead basket with only 15 seconds left. Midway’s opponent, Eagleville, last made it to the state tournament in 1982. They earned a spot by defeating Clay County 47-46 on a last-second shot by Makayla Moates. After several disappointing, one-sided games earlier in the day, the Midway-Eagleville matchup held promise for some real competition.

Be careful what you ask for! This game turned out to be more than competitive – it was war! The game began with both teams fighting for the lead. The game was tied at 2-2, 5-5, and 11-11 at 3:33 of the first quarter. At one point, the score was Eagleville 9, Caitlyn Ross 8. Rebecca Lemasters buried a three for Midway in the first period. Ross scored 10 points and Lemasters three points in the period. Elizabeth Thompson and Makayla Moates were dominant for Eagleville and led the Lady Eagles to a 19-13 first quarter lead.

Eagleville continued to build their lead in the second quarter, taking an 11-point lead, 31-20, with 2:12 remaining in the first half. Emily Cawood led the Lady Waves in the second quarter with six points. Even with Paige Bacon and Emmy Taylor contributing points for Midway, the Lady Eagles held a 33-24 lead at halftime.

Down 11 points, 37-26, at 6:07 of the third quarter, the Lady Waves began a comeback that sent fans of both teams into a frenzy. Midway took the lead 40-39 at 1:54 of the third quarter when Rebecca Lemasters hit a 2-point jump shot, only to fall behind by six, 46-40, seven seconds into the fourth quarter. Midway trailed by five, 48-43, at 5:55 to go.

Doubters would say that it really looked bleak for the Lady Waves at this point, but that South of the River competitiveness kicked in and Midway tied the game 48-48 only 50 seconds later after Rebecca Lemasters buried a three and followed with a 2-point jumper. Midway took the lead 51-48 with 3:10 to go when Caitlyn Ross buried a 3-point jump shot. Eagleville’s Makayla Moates responded with her own 3-pointer and tied the game 51-51 with 1:06 to go.

After a missed shot by Midway and a turnover by Eagleville, Emily Cawood drove the lane for two points with 17 seconds remaining, giving Midway a 53-51 lead. Cawood’s performance at the end was a mirror-image of her game-winning shot against North Greene.

Eagleville missed a 3-point shot with two seconds to go, and Midway captured the defensive rebound. Suddenly, it was over! Unlike Tennyson’s brigade, there were no Midway casualties and a jubilant group of young ladies wearing green celebrated the victory that puts the Lady Waves into the semifinals of the 2019 Blue Cross Basketball Championships on Friday.

Midway Coach Mike Hayes attributed the successful comeback to deploying a 1-2-2 zone in the second half, as well as to “turning up the heat on the press”. Hayes inserted the 1-2-2 into the Lady Waves’ repertoire only last week. Not bad planning for one who still calls himself the “worst coach in the district”. The success of those efforts is portrayed by one key statistic – points scored off forced turnovers. Midway outscored Eagleville 18-7 in this critical area – an indication of the level of defense played by the Lady Waves.

Midway was led in scoring by Ross with 20 points. Caitlyn shot 6-11 from the field, including 4-7 3-point shooting, and was 4-4 from the free throw line. Emily Cawood added 13 points for the Lady Waves, 4-14 from the field, including 1-5 from outside the arc. Cawood was also 4-4 from the free throw line. Rebecca Lemasters scored 10 points, 4-7 from the field, with 2-4 from 3-point range. While the Lady Waves connected on only 33% of their field goals, Midway hit a remarkable 100% of their free throws (10-10).

Eagleville was led by Moates with 22 points. Anna Grace Clement added 14 points and Elizabeth Thompson contributed 10 points.

Midway’s victory over Eagleville was the first state tournament game won by Midway since 1963. In those days, there were six players on each team and teams had separate offensive and defensive players who each played half-court. With the victory, the Lady Waves take on Gibson County at 6:00 PM in the semifinals of the Blue Cross Basketball Championships. Gibson County defeated Summertown 50-32.