Middleton ladies avoid disaster at TCA to stay perfect

The Middleton quest for a second perfect season in a row continued last week with a pair of road wins, defeating Adamsville 53-31 on Wednesday, Feb. 2 followed by a 61-55 win over Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) on Saturday, Feb. 6.
Middleton Jumped out to an early lead over Adamsville, and held a16 point advantage after the first quarter. That lead was cut to 14 points at the break, but Middleton gained those two points back in the third quarter and increased their lead to 19 points by the end of the game for a 53-34 win.
“We got off to a quick start, and our defense played well, and were able to hold Adamsville to just 34 points,” Middleton Head Coach James Burkley said.
Chelsey Perry led the way with 22 points and 16 rebounds, while Sequoia Warren added 14 points.
The ladies were in danger of seeing their perfect record come to an end when they traveled to TCA on Saturday. The two teams were neck and neck in the first quarter, and TCA held on to a one point lead at the end of the period. Middleton turned up the heat a bit in the second quarter and held an eight point lead at the break. TCA was not ready to go away yet. They cut Middleton’s lead down to just three points after the third quarter, and took a brief lead late in the fourth quarter before Middleton settled down and was able to come away with a six point 61-55 win.
“This was a dog fight just like we knew it would be,” said Burkley. “We were finally able to get things back under control late in the fourth quarter and were able to pull out the victory.”
Sequoya Warren led the way with 20 points followed by Alexius Pledge with 14 points and Chelsey Perry with 13 points.
The Middleton ladies are now 23-0 for the year (10-0 in District 15A), and their current win streak is up to 57 games.
The Middleton boys also had a perfect week with road wins over Adamsville 97-85 on Wednesday, and TCA 61-47 on Saturday.
Wednesday’s game against Adamsville was a high scoring affair for Middleton, and the Tigers dominated the entire game. Middleton led by 14 points after the first quarter, 17 points at the break, 21 points after the third quarter and  points by the final buzzer for a 97-55 win.
“This was a well balanced scoring effort for us and we played a solid game,” Coach Burkley stated.
“Jacque Gibson led the way with 28 points including seven 3 pointers, while Justin Morman added 24 points and Montrez Jones added 11 points.
Middleton had a bit tougher game on Saturday against TCA, but were still able to come up with the win. The tigers led by five points after the first period, seven points at half time, 12 points after the third period, and 14 points by the end of the game for the 61-47 win.
“We shot the ball well, including 11 of 15 from three point range,” Burkley said.
Jacque Gibson led all scores with 28 points including seven 3-pointers, nine rebound and nine assists. Justin Morman added 24 points and Montrez Jones added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Middleton is now 17-5 for the year (9-1 in District 15A).
Middleton was set to host Scotts Hill on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at home and will close out the regular season on Friday, Feb. 12 on the road to Riverside.