Despite a valiant effort in round 3 of the NCHSAA State Playoffs, the Midway Raiders fell to the number 1 seeded, undefeated, Farmville Central Jaguars. When it was all said and done, the home team won 95-83, advancing into round 4.
The Raiders were under-manned through most of the second half due to foul trouble, but had the top seed in the Eastern Region worried for the majority of the contest.
Farmville came out of the gates hot and built an early 10 point lead at 20-10. Midway used a little spurt then to cut the lead to 25-17 after the opening period, and quickly cut that lead to 25-24 early in the second.
In a high-tempo second quarter, the Jags were able to get a corner-3 ball and extend their lead to 49-40 at the halftime break.
Farmville extended their lead to 21 at one point in the third quarter, and Midway entered the fourth trailing 75-58.
After a hot start in the final frame, Midway was able to cut the lead down to as low as 7 with about 2 minutes to play. Farmville made enough plays down the stretch to close the game out and win their 25th consecutive game.
Farmville was paced by Shaft Parker who scored a game-high 31 points. Tyler Maye added 21 to the Jaguar total.
Darius Perez led Midway with 18 points. Paris Smith scored 16 and Ayden Canady had 14.
Matthew Creech, the Midway head coach, was pleased with his team’s energy in the loss.
“I really thought our kids played with a great energy tonight,” he attested. Unfortunately, we ran into a team that is extremely talented. They hurt us from the perimeter early and in the paint down the stretch.”
Creech went on to talk about the pleasure he had in coaching this group of Raiders
“It’s been a true blessing for me to be able to coach this team. They have certainly made a lot of people proud. Hats off to our fans, they showed up in force tonight and provided us a boost that helped keep us in the game until the end,” he concluded.
Midway’s season ends with a 17-11 record. They went 8-6 in the Four County Conference
