The Lexington girls basketball team fought back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and took the lead against Dorman Tuesday night with just five seconds standing between the Wildcats and the second round. But in the blink of an eye, their season suddenly ended. 

Dorman was left with short time and 84 feet in the way of a go-ahead shot. Out of a timeout, the Cavaliers got the ball to freshman Makayla Moore, who ran with a full head of steam to the basket and air-balled a shot over the rim. 

There to clean up the miss was senior Jenna Cothran, who caught the ball in midair and laid it right into the basket as the buzzer rang throughout the gym. Moments later the referee ran to the scores table to count the basket, giving Dorman a 55-54 win and sending a swarm of Cavaliers to Cothran and a group of stunned Wildcats to their bench. 

The shot may or may not have gotten off in time. It was that close. 

The ball fell in Cothran’s hands with under a second left and the buzzer sounded before the ball rolled through the net. The only way to truly tell would be to go back and watch it in slow motion, but this is high school, so if the referee ruled it was good, it’s good. 

“It's pretty heartbreaking,” Wildcat head coach Molly Goodrich said. “I thought the girls fought really hard to come back. I was proud of their effort. I was proud of their energy. They made some big plays and it all came down to an oop at the buzzer, and the ref said it counted so. That's how it goes.”

The previous possession, Lexington forced a Dorman turnover down one point with 22 seconds left. From there, junior Izzy Saville put her head down and made a strong drive to the basket to hit a go-ahead layup with five seconds on the clock. 

This shot was the first time Lexington took the lead in the second half, but like it went the rest of the game, whenever the Wildcats took momentum, Dorman had a response. 

The Cavaliers opened the game in full control. Dorman won the jump and scored a three on the opening possession. The team followed that up with five more unanswered points to build an 8-0 lead. 

Lexington scored their first basket three and a half minutes into the game on a layup from Saville. The rest of the first quarter went no better, with Lexington trailing 11-4 heading into the second period. 

The offense started to heat up in the second quarter. Lexington doubled its score in the first minutes and had the lead cut down to two shortly after. 

Things slowed down a bit in the middle of the period, but near the end, senior Jordan Cuttino nailed a corner three to give the Wildcats their first lead. 

It did not last long though because the next play, Dorman retook the lead and proceeded to go on a 6-0 run. 

The Wildcats only trailed by three at the break, but it would become a deeper hole as the third and fourth quarter progressed. 

The Cavalier lead eventually grew to 13, but after a much-needed timeout, Lexington started to lock in. With five minutes left, the Wildcats slowly began to chip away at Dorman's lead. It started with stops on defense and clean looks on offense. 

What was a double-digit deficit became, nine, then seven, then four. Lexington was getting closer to completing an epic fourth-quarter comeback. 

“They're a tough team, and they definitely don't have any quit,” Goodrich said. “I was proud of them for just leaving it all on the court, and I thought that we set ourselves up good for a comeback and, I don't think I would've done anything different.”

With two minutes left, Cuttino hit her second three to cut the deficit to three points. The score stayed stagnant for the next minute, and Lexington picked up the defensive intensity. 

The aggression paid off, as the team forced multiple turnovers and scored points off those extra chances. Freshman Braidi Goodrich nailed two clutch free throws with 30 seconds left, fighting through the pain she was feeling from the hard fall. 

Saville hit her go-ahead layup on the next possession after Cuttino’s defense forced a travel. Her bucket was set to give Lexington the win and send the Wildcats to the next round, but it ultimately did not. 

Saville led all scorers with 18 points, including seven in both the second and third quarters. Cuttino finished with 12 points and Evie Godfrey added nine.

Two Dorman players scored 11 points to lead the Cavaliers. Cothran scored seven, including her game-winner. 

The Cavaliers used their size advantage to draw fouls early and get free points behind the line. In the first half, Dorman shot 5/10 behind the foul line, while Lexington was 0-1. The attempts swung Lexington’s way in the second half but not enough to make up for the first-half differential. 

“They do have size, and so we knew it would be tough going against them,” Goodrich said. “I thought they played a good game too. They went right at us. They hit some key shots as well.”

The loss ends Lexington’s season in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Wildcats finished 12-10 overall and 6-2 in region play. 

Fortunately for Lexington, all but two of the team’s players are seniors, meaning they are expected to return next season.

For Cuttino and fellow senior Abbie Barnes, this game concludes their high school basketball careers. The emotions associated with that realization were seen after the game. 

“Obviously you play sports to win, but basketball gives you so much more in life and it doesn't have to be over for them,” Goodrich said. “I mean, you can use basketball throughout the rest of your life and we hope that the lessons that we've given them will help them be stronger people in this world, and we are just thankful that we got to coach them.”

Tuesday playoff scores around the county

Boys

Crestwood: 51, Brookland-Cayce: 38

Newberry: 72, Batesburg-Leesville: 57

Gray Collegiate: 91, Chesnee: 39

Girls

Byrnes: 51, Chapin: 31

Dutch Fork: 77, Cane Bay: 18

Goose Creek: 39, White Knoll: 33

North Myrtle Beach: 53, Irmo: 21

Westside: 87, Airport: 17