Friday, Feb. 01, 2013
Playing it smart
Vikings hang on to defeat Butler for third
By Stephanie Yeagle
syeagle@demo-mo.com
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ReprintA strong third quarter lifted Midway past Butler 49-43 for third place in the Archie Tournament Jan. 26.
“I thought our girls played very well,” Midway head coach Chad Dean said. “We played pretty smart when we had the ball in our hands and our man defense was very good. We did a great job of recognizing Butler’s strengths and doing what we needed to keep them from hurting us. We were a little concerned about our match-ups defensively because of their quickness but we also knew that on the other side of the ball those match-ups might be to our favor.”
The Vikings had a slim 18-16 advantage over Butler at the end of the first quarter and led 25-22 at halftime. In the third quarter, after a Midway basket from senior Kathleen Yoakum, Butler went on a 8-0 run to take a 30-27 lead.
But Midway came back with a vengeance, going on a 13-0 run with a basket and three-pointer from senior Cady Wright, two shots from Yoakum, a basket from sophomore Mariah Keeney and a shot from sophomore Laine Mills to lead 40-30. Butler made a free throw before the quarter ended.
In the fourth quarter, with the Vikings ahead at 42-37, Midway went on another run, this time for five points, with a free throw from Mills and a shot apiece from Keeney and sophomore Emily Aksamit to lead 47-37.
The Bears responded with two free throws, but so did Midway with two from Wright and one from Mills to lead 49-39. Butler had the rest of the game with two more free throws and a basket.
Kathleen Yoakum and Mariah Keeney had a great week defensively and Saturday night was no exception to that,” Dean said. “Laine Mills also stepped up on defense against Butler’s (Alyx) Gepford when she had to. We also had a couple of girls come in off the bench and played well for us. Going into the game we knew we were playing a good team and would have to play well to get a win. That was a good win for us against a good team.”
The Vikings, 13-4, were led in scoring by Yoakum with 15 and Wright with 12 points. Mills had nine points, Aksamit and Keeney added five points and Kylie Berry had four points.
