The Midway Lady Green Wave, who made their first state appearance in 28 years, handed a 53-51 loss to the Eagleville Lady Eagles in the final seconds of a Class A girls state quarterfinal at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Thursday, March 7, 2019. (Photo by Danny Parker)
MURFREESBORO – Emily Cawood has this game-winning-shot thing down pat.
The 5-foot-6 junior forward from Midway made the game-winning shot in the Lady Green Wave’s Class A state sectional win (54-52) over North Greene on March 2.
Thursday, she did it again.
Cawood’s drive and score with 17 seconds to play in a Class A state quarterfinal against Eagleville proved to be the final-and-decisive score in Midway’s 53-51 win.
The Lady Green Wave (27-6) won their 14th consecutive game and advanced to a 6 p.m. (Central) state semifinal Friday against either Gibson County (33-3).
Midway outscored Eagleville 29-18 the final 16 minutes, forcing nine second-half turnovers and holding Eagleville (22-10) to 24.2 percent shooting after the halftime break.
Caitlyn Ross led Midway with 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including a 4-for-7 effort from 3. Cawood finished with 13 points. On her final score, she flashed up to the free-throw line, where she received the entry pass into the post. She turned, drove and scored from a couple feet away.
But Midway still had one last stop to make. Makayla Moates — who led Eagleville with 22 points — got a shot off from the corner but it bounded off the rim, sending Midway’s players and fans into hysterics.
The victory was just the second state-tournament win in program history.
“We added 41 – our pass-and-cut play in the high post — a couple games ago, and it’s worked so far,” said Cawood. “The middle is always wide open.”
Though they trailed by as many as 11 in the second half, Midway entered the fourth quarter down just 44-40 in its first state-tournament appearance since 1991.
Midway’s Rebecca Lemasters (10 points) hit a 3 with 5:47 left to make it 48-46 Eagleville. LeMasters added a mid-range jumper from the corner to tie the game at 48-all at the 5-minute mark.
“She has no conscience,” said Midway coach Michael Hayes. “She can airball one and then make five in a row.”
Ross broke a 48-all tie with 3:10 to play with a 3-pointer. Midway regained possession shortly after and tried to milk the clock; however, a turnover ensued.
Moates swished an easy 3 on the other end to tie Midway with 1:06 remaining.
But that only set the stage for Cawood’s heroics.
“She’s played some post in her career. We moved her outside this year. But, we like her quickness in there (in the post),” said Hayes. “We just put her in there and tried to get it to her.
“She can make moves in there.”
Eagleville caught fire early, shooting 80 percent in the first quarter — including 3-for-3 on 3s — in staking a 19-13 lead. Ross hit her first two 3s for Midway and was 4-for-4 at the foul line to keep the Lady Green Wave close.
After trailing by nine at halftime, Midway turned up the defensive pressure in the third. A steal-and-score in transition by Ross made Eagleville’s lead just 37-32. Paige Bacon repeated Ross’ feat and cut the lead to 37-34.
And when Cawood’s forced bankshot against heavy Eagleville pressure went through with 2:49 left in the third, it capped a 12-0 run by Midway that put it ahead 38-37.
But Cawood wasn’t done. She was heard from again — late.
“I got the ball and I saw Emily (with her hands up), and I was like, ‘She’s going to make it,’” said Ross. “I had confidence in her.”