Midway is 9-1 against Lakewood since November of 2018 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Midway Raiders will challenge the Lakewood Leopards at 6:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Midway turned things around against Hobbton last Friday. They walked away with a 35-26 victory over the Wildcats.
| 11/30/23 @ South Johnston | 2 |
| 12/04/24 vs Hobbton | 3 |
| 12/20/24 @ Hobbton | 8 |
Midway's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Lauralee Harris, who posted eight points. Those eight points gave Harris a new career-high. Another player making a difference was McKenna Brooks, who earned eight points and nine rebounds.
Midway smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive rebounds in eight consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Lakewood is still undefeated this season after their game against Clinton on Friday, but Clinton came as close as anyone has to beating them. It was close, but Lakewood capped 2024 with a 52-49 victory over Clinton. Given the Leopards' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 118th, while the Dark Horses are ranked 246th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lakewood's win came from a few key players Midway will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Areona McKoy, who went 11 of 25 on her way to 25 points and four steals. That makes it six consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Lakewood's points. The team also got some help courtesy of A'Miyah Smith, who went 6 of 12 on her way to 17 points and three steals.
Lakewood pushed their record up to 6-0 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 25.7 points. As for Midway, their victory bumped their record up to 5-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Midway has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 46.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Lakewood struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Midway came up short against Lakewood in their previous meeting on December 12th, falling 43-31. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of McKoy, who went 10 of 22 on her way to 20 points and seven steals. Now that Midway knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
