REGION 3-PEAT! Lexington girls defeat White Knoll 52-42 to claim Region 5-5A title.

THOMAS GRANT JR.
chroniclesports@yahoo.com
Posted 2/11/21

Postponements and cancellations due to covid-19 left the Lexington girls' basketball team with 78 days of inactivity this season. 

Coming off the latest layoff of 16 days, the Lady Wildcats …

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REGION 3-PEAT! Lexington girls defeat White Knoll 52-42 to claim Region 5-5A title.

Posted

Postponements and cancellations due to covid-19 left the Lexington girls' basketball team with 78 days of inactivity this season. 
Coming off the latest layoff of 16 days, the Lady Wildcats looked to clinch a 3rd straight Region 5-5A title. Standing in the way was a White Knoll team also with region title aspirations and who gave Lexington a 1-point loss in its last game before the hiatus. 
This time around, the Lady Wildcats got a season-high 16 points from center Lindsey Garner and withstood a 28-point effort from Jasmine Jenkins for the 52-42 win. 
"I really had to step up this game and I really wanted to win this game," said Garner, who has overcome early-season health issues. 
Jenna Yanity had 13 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with less than 2 minutes left to give Lexington a cushion. Alexis Sexton had 11 points, but fouled out in the 4th quarter, and Amaya Johnson 8 points. 
An 11-2 run helped Lexington take a 15-11 lead in the 2nd quarter. It was able to stretch the lead to 27-19 in the 2nd quarter after Yanity hit free throws following a technical foul called on White Knoll head coach Walt Allen.
The 3rd quarter was a tale of 2 teams. The Lady Timberwolves were held scoreless through the 1st 4 1/2 minutes to trail 36-25. 
Jenkins scored 5 straight points as White Knoll closed the quarter down 36-32. 
The 4th quarter opened with Garner and Jenkins exchanging baskets. Lexington clinged to its lead as White Knoll got within 46-42, only for Yanity to hit a 3-pointer from the right corner near the home bench to put the game out of reach.
"This 1 means so much," said head coach Molly Goodrich, who also won her 95th game with the Lady Wildcats in addition to a 4th region title overall. "The girls have had to battle ever since the pandemic started, losing their AAU season. They would just meet at the Barr Road (Gymnasium) and pay to go in there and shoot every single day. They would get together at outdoor parks and it just never stopped and they just kept fighting and fighting.
"Just losing that and then just all the adversity that we had to work through. We try not to talk about it too much, but we all it's in the back of our mind that we can be shut down at any time and we're just very thankful that we haven't." 
The loss dropped White Knoll (4-4, 4-3) into a 3-way tie for 2nd place with Dutch Fork and River Bluff. It can earn the 2nd region playoff berth with a win Saturday at River Bluff and Dutch Fork loss to Chapin Friday.
If both Dutch Fork and White Knoll are victorious, the 2 teams will most face each other in a 1-game playoff. River Bluff can make the post-season only with a win over White Knoll and Dutch Fork loss to Chapin. 
Meanwhile, Lexington will have another layoff of 11 days before the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs at home. A quarterfinals matchup would also take place at home if the Lady Wildcats win.

After last year's 1st round exit to James Island at Wildcat Gymnasium, the team is motivated to go further this post-season.
"Just keep going and not stick to 1 round," Garner said. "We want to go farther than that."
 

Goodrich, Garner, Sexton, Yanity, Jenkins

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