Indians snip Lady Jackets

By Staff Reports - The Herald

In Fort Mill, the Lady Yellow Jackets had Gaffney on the ropes in the third quarter, but couldn't weather the Indians' valiant comeback Wednesday night.

Playing on the road for the first time in three games, Gaffney (10-4, 3-0 Region 3-AAAA) battled back in the fourth quarter to edge Fort Mill.

Fort Mill (2-14, 0-3) held Gaffney scoreless for a span of more than five minutes that stretched from late in the first quarter to midway through the second. Tierra Morris ended the Indians' drought with a driving layup at the 4:50 mark in the second.

The Lady Jackets went on an 11-4 run to open the third quarter and extended their lead to 11, 34-23, with 2 minutes left in the period. However, Gaffney wasn't going to throw in the towel.

The Indians powered back in the fourth and knotted the score at 40 with 2:10 left in the game. Gaffney coach Stacey Parris said the work of Kierra Phillips helped fuel the comeback.

The 5-9 junior scored two of her game-high 17 points, after picking off a pass intended for Fort Mill's Jenna White and taking it in for an easy layup to tie the game at 40.

It wasn't only the offensive spark that fueled the Indians to victory. Gaffney limited Fort Mill to a mere two field goals in the fourth, both by Alexia Grevious.

After the lead was traded twice, Gaffney went up for good with 49 seconds remaining on a Phillips jumper.

Courtney Grainger led the Lady Yellow Jackets with 10 points.

Fort Mill hosts Nation Ford on Friday night for the first of two meetings with its crosstown rival.

SPRING VALLEY 56, SOUTH POINTE 36 -- The South Pointe Lady Stallions hosted the No. 3 team in Class AAAA Wednesday night. The Spring Valley Vikings, led by Asia Dozier and Xylina McDaniel, showed why they are so highly ranked. Spring Valley used its press, its size, and 37 points from its two biggest stars, to defeat the South Pointe 56-36.

Spring Valley forced 24 South Pointe turnovers on the night, especially in the first half, many of them led to easy baskets for the Vikings. McDaniel, the daughter of former NBA player Xavier McDaniel, was able to score several layups in transition. She also found open teammates when she was doubled. She had 12 points in the half and Spring Valley led 36-21 at the break.

The second half saw Spring Valley's half court defense shut down South Pointe. Spring Valley also used its size to control both backboards, holding the Stallions to one shot. Dozier also hit three big 3's for Spring Valley to help extend the Viking lead. Dozier had 19 points, leading all scorers, and McDaniel had 18.

South Pointe was led in scoring by Donna White who had 9 and Shanada Adams who had 8.

Spring Valley coach Anne Long praised McDaniel and Dozier.

"They work well together," she said. "They are a good outside inside tandem. We got a few good things off our press. Our guards have size and length which bothered them (South Pointe)."

"Spring Valley is the best team we've faced all year," South Pointe coach Brett Childers said. "It's the first time we've seen a team that has length and quickness. We are very young and still have work to do," he said.

YORK 57, NORTHWESTERN 50 -- Northwestern appeared to have control of the contest with a 38-29 lead early in the third quarter. At that point, the Lady Trojans appeared ready to run away with the contest.

However, the York girls regrouped in a solid way, outscoring the Lady Trojans 28-12 the rest of the contest for a key 57-50 victory in Region 3-AAAA action at the York gymnasium.

York closed the third quarter deficit to 5, 40-35, and finally pulled even, 41-41, when Brittney Merriweather netted two free throws with 6:18 remaining. Tierra Lewis scored on the interior to give Northwestern a 43-41 edge, but that did little to slow the Lady Cougar momentum.

Hikeya Davis sank two free throws and then converted a layup after Gina Patton stole the inbounds pass for a four point York lead.

Patton sank one-of-two free throws giving the Lady Cougars a seven-point edge, 52-45, with 1:18 remaining.

Northwestern guard Kelia Shelton sank two free throws closing the deficit to five. After a York free throw, Lady Trojan guard Xy'resha Isom swished a 3-pointer tightening the score to 53-50 with 39.8 seconds remaining.

However, that would eventually be the final Lady Trojan points as York converted 4-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch.

"It was not one of our better shooting nights, but we showed a lot of heart and intensity," York coach Paul Blackwell said. "(Northwestern guard) Kelia (Shelton) is a great player and defensively, we wanted to put a lot of pressure on her and let someone else beat us."

Northwestern coach John Bramlett pointed to a lack of defensive intensity down the stretch.

"We were up by 9, but then allowed 22 points in the fourth quarter. We have to be able to get stops," Bramlett said.

JV/9TH GRADE/MIDDLE SCHOOL

BASKETBALL

JV girls

Northwestern 42, York 38 (OT)