Midway Ends Sunbright Lady Tigers’ Season 64-52

By Terry Futrell

In what had to be one of the most “overly-officiated” games in post-season play, the Midway Lady Waves brought an end to Sunbright’s stellar run of this basketball season. With 44 fouls called in the contest, 27 of them against Sunbright, the flow of the game was most certainly impacted by the officiating, much to the dissatisfaction of fans from both sides.

Sunbright’s best ball-handler, Olivia Northrup, was forced to the bench early in the first quarter with three fouls. Early in the second quarter, Sunbright Coach Rusty Yaden turned to say something to his assistant with his back to the court and was hit with a technical foul by a passing official, forcing Yaden to remain seated for the rest of the game. Early in the fourth quarter, Midway’s Heaven Prinzi and Northrup were both disqualified by fouls, with Sunbright’s Hannah Shannon exiting soon thereafter.

Perhaps most confusing to Sunbright’s team was District MVP Caitlyn Ross’ apparent cloning of herself. Ross was everywhere – deflecting or intercepting passes, flying through the air after loose balls, and driving the length of the court to score on fast breaks. Equally challenging to Midway was Sunbright’s Makenna Brown, who seemed unstoppable when posted up inside. Brown scored 10 2-point baskets in the game, most from inside the paint.

Sunbright took an early 4-0 lead, with Midway having much difficulty getting the ball past half-court. Midway finally got on the board at 6:03 of the first quarter when Rebecca Lemasters buried a 3-point shot. The Lady Waves tied the game at 6-6 after three minutes of play, then pulled ahead 16-10 to end the first period.

Midway continued to pull away to a 33-20 lead with 1:36 remaining in the second quarter, but the Lady Tigers narrowed the gap to 33-25 at the half. Sunbright continued to fight back in the third quarter, cutting Midway’s lead to four points at 33-29 in less than one minute of play. Midway quickly scored five points to extend their lead to 38-29, and led 42-33 at the end of three.

Midway’s Prinzi fouled out in the first 30 seconds of the fourth quarter, followed almost immediately by Sunbright’s Northrup. Sunbright stayed within seven points of the Lady Waves at 47-40 with 3:34 to go, but Midway once again pulled ahead. Sunbright closed the gap to five at 52-47 with 1:52 to go, only to see the Lady Waves pull away for the final 64-52 victory.

Midway was led in scoring by Caitlyn Ross and Emily Cawood, with each scoring 16 points. Ross and Cawood combined to shoot 20 of 25 free throws. Rebecca Lemasters added nine points and Heaven Prinzi scored eight points for Midway. Makenna Brown shouldered the scoring load for Sunbright with 31 points. Brown had 10 2-point baskets, one 3-point basket, and shot eight of 11 from the free throw line. From the floor, Sunbright outshot Midway 18 baskets to 16 baskets, but free throws were the determining factor in the game with Midway having a 31-14 advantage.

The loss brought an end to Sunbright’s exceptional 27-8 season. Midway moves on to face Oneida in the Region 2-1A championship game on Wednesday, which will be a rematch of the District 3 championship game won by Midway on February 19.