HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS - 4th Quarter rally lifts Irmo into 3rd round

River Bluff girls win, sets up "Battle of the Lady Gators" contest with defending champ Goose Creek

Thomas Grant Jr.
chroniclesports@yahoo.com
Posted 2/21/20

Down 43-42 after 3 quarters, Irmo girls' basketball coach Monica Williams encouraged her team Friday to step up their defensive play against visiting Rock Hill.

The 2nd ranked Lady Yellow Jackets …

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HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS - 4th Quarter rally lifts Irmo into 3rd round

River Bluff girls win, sets up "Battle of the Lady Gators" contest with defending champ Goose Creek

Posted

Down 43-42 after 3 quarters, Irmo girls' basketball coach Monica Williams encouraged her team Friday to step up their defensive play against visiting Rock Hill.
The 2nd ranked Lady Yellow Jackets more than took the message to heart Friday in The Temple of Doom. 
Holding the Lady Bearcats without a field goal, Irmo outscored them 16-1 in the 4th quarter to pull away for the 58-43 win in the 2nd round of the Class 5A playoffs.
"I didn't know that," said Williams about the 4th quarter boxscore. "Wow! Well, we had to get out on the 3-point line and I thought if we did a little better job closing out, that they'd start missing a few and they did." 
It was the 13th consecutive win for the Lady Yellow Jackets (23-3). All-State guard Ehrial (pronounced Ariel) Wagstaff led the way with 19 points, including 11 of the team's 20 made free throws on 28 attempts. 
Jayla Lovett also finished with 19 points and freshman Maliyiah Mason posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The 1st half feature 4 ties and several lead changes before the Lady Bearcats opened up a 28-24 halftime lead. They were able to thrive behind the arc, finishing the game with 7, 3-pointers.
Gracie Wilson accounted for 4 3-pointers, finishing with a team-high 12 points. 
Irmo was also missing point guard Jay'lah Smith (concussion), leaving Wagstaff and Lovett as the primary ball-handlers. 
The Lady Bearcats (20-8) stretched their lead as many as 7 points in the 3rd quarter. A pair of 3-point plays by Wagstaff and Lovett, who finished with 17 points, helped bring the Lady Yellow Jackets to within a point.
After Unique Burch's putback with less than a minute remaining in the quarter, the Lady Bearcats did not score from the field again. Irmo opened the fourth with a putback by Nina Johnson to take the lead for good.
Free throws by Mason and Wagstaff put the Lady Yellow Jackets ahead 46-42. Those were the only points scored over the first 6 minutes and 6 seconds of the final period.
After Jada Jones hit 1-2 free throws with 1:54 left, Rock Hill did not score again. Irmo closed out the game with 12 straight points, capped by a layup by Lovett in the final 30 seconds. 
"We were struggling a little bit on the offensive end and, also on the defensive end," said Wagstaff, who was 11-13 at the free-throw line. "Once we got that lead in the 2nd half, we never gave it up and we knew free throws was going to win the game."
The moved Williams past Hartsville's Pat Hewitt on the SCHSL career wins' list with 408. Irmo will now play host to T.L. Hanna at 6:30 pm Monday for a berth to the Upper State final. 
"Coach Hewitt - a legend, for sure," she said. "It means a lot. This game meant a lot for us. Now, we're in the Elite 8. We've still got unfinished business that I know this senior class is going to lead the way."


River Bluff 54, Carolina Forest 48
After winning the 1st playoff game in school history, the Lady Gators added another milestone Friday night.
Leading for most of the game and posting a defensive shutout in the 3rd quarter, River Bluff (17-9) earned its 1st ever road playoff victory in defeating the top-seeded Lady Panthers.
The Lady Gators led 11-10 at the end of the 1st quarter. Sparked by the 3-point shooting of 8th grade guard Samira Khalil, River Bluff outscored Carolina Forest 25-20 in the 2nd quarter to take a 36-30 halftime lead.
Khalil finished with 15 points, including 5, 3-pointers, 4 coming in the 2nd quarter.
River Bluff turned up the defense in the 3rd quarter. They outscored the host team 12-0 to extend their lead to 48-30 entering the 4th quarter.
Carolina Forest (14-15) mounted a final contact to close the deficit to 50-46 with 58.1 seconds left. Carlie Skolsky had 15 points, Ally Niles had 13 and and Reilly Ward finished with 12 for the Lady Panthers. 
All-State point guard and Region 5-5A Player of the Year Japonica Wilson scored 4 of her team-high 19 points in the final seconds and Niya Perry, who finished with 10 points, added a free throw to secure the win.
Up next is a "Battle of the Lady Gators" Monday Night in the Lowcountry. River Bluff will visit "The Swamp" home of defending Class 5A champion Goose Creek (24-3), who routed Ashley Ridge 53-38 for its 15th straight win.
Monday's winner faces Berkeley or Wando in the Feb. 29 Class 5A Lower State final at the Florence Civic Center.


Crestwood 51, Airport 32
Jayla Jamison scored 14 points and Amea Zeigler added 12 as the Lady Eagles finished the season with a 19-8 mark after the 2nd round Class 4A playoff loss to the Lady Knights.


(BOYS BASKETBALL)
Dillon Christian School 66, Northside Christian 51

Jeb Reiser and Corey Black each scored 11 points and Charlie Compton added 8 as the Crusaders were eliminated from the SCISA Class 2A playoffs Friday.
Weston Glasgow had a game-high 27 points for the Warriors (24-5).


SATURDAY'S HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
(All Games Start at 7 pm)

Clover at Irmo 
West Florence at Dutch Fork
River Bluff at Conway
 

Wagstaff, Williams, Irmo

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