Northwestern girls' basketball team season comes to an end with playoff loss to Greenwood

By Barry Byers - bbyers@heraldonline.com

GREENWOOD -- A 28-28 tie at the half was more than Northwestern could ask for in its Class AAAA Upper State playoff game against Greenwood on Friday.

Make that a lot more, considering the way the Lady Trojans started in their 59-47 second-round loss. Somewhere along S.C. 72 from Rock Hill to Greenwood High School, the Lady Trojans lost their offensive game.

Greenwood was much better with the ball, just not accurate. The Lady Eagles got off nine shots and took a 4-0 lead before Northwestern got on the board on a driving jumper from junior Kelia Shelton.

The shot came at the 5:45 mark and was followed by Amber Stewart's jumper that tied the game. The score was knotted at 6 and at 8, and Northwestern's 20-19 lead on a pair of second-quarter free throws from Stewart was the only time the Lady Trojans were ahead.

Northwestern trailed 28-24 with less than a minute left to halftime, but Shelton hit a bucket and two shots from the line to even the score at the break.

"This is the first time for us going to the second round since I've been a Lady Trojan, and it hurts to lose," Shelton said as tears rolled down her cheeks. "We had a chance, but didn't get it done."

Northwestern hit 8-of-22 shots in the opening half and 13-of-48 for the game. But Greenwood was setting the woods on fire from the field, and the biggest bugaboo for the Lady Trojans was their 23 turnovers.

That was most evident as the third quarter began. Greenwood opened the period with a 3-pointer, then turned four straight steals into layups and a 39-28 lead.

"Coach told us at the half that we needed to let our defense get us going on offense," said senior forward Sy Robinson, who scored 18 points. "It seemed like we were getting all the rebounds, all the loose balls and were able to pressure Northwestern into giving the ball back to us."

It was a tough way for the Lady Trojans to start the half after pulling even through two quarters. But Northwestern had no answer for Greenwood's speed, had problems getting the ball to the other end of the court and hit only five shots after the break.

The result was the end of Northwestern's finest and first winning season in years at 18-7. Greenwood moved to 25-1 and won it 23rd straight. The Lady Eagles will travel to Dorman either Monday or Tuesday in the third round.

"We were very ineffective on offense tonight," Northwestern coach John Bramlett said. "But a lot of credit for that goes to Greenwood's defense. We had a great season and we'll start working hard to be better next year."

Shelton scored 19 points, but she was smothered most of the night and had to work for every shot. Her help came from Stewart, who had 18 points.

"We outrebounded them and outran them," Greenwood coach Susan Thompson said. "And the way we came out and played defense to start the second half was the difference. We didn't play like that in the opening half."

With 13 second left and Greenwood in possession, the Lady Trojans conceded and walked toward their bench. Rather than score a meaningless basket, the Lady Eagles started a rebound drill on the right side of the backboard in celebration and to run out the clock.

A Greenwood reserve ran onto the court to join in as the clock ticked down. The officials quickly called a technical foul for six players on the court. But the Lady Trojans' coaches waved it off and headed their players to the locker room to prepare for one last, long ride home until next seasaon.