Rock Hill rolls Byrnes to advance to 5A girls quarterfinals

Rock Hill used a dominant first-half performance to run away from James F. Byrnes with a 71-31 victory in the second round of the SCHSL 5A girls basketball state tournament Friday night.

Rock Hill opened the game on a 19-0 run and led 35-4 at halftime as the Bearcats played an aggressive man-defense full-court press that forced several Byrnes turnovers, which turned into easy transition points for Rock Hill.

When the Bearcats were in a halfcourt set, they found some open threes with seniors De’Ashaj Crawford and Omadeah Ford and sophomore Chloe Hudson combining for six made in the first half.

“We came out with a mindset that we were just going to be in attack mode,” Rock Hill head coach Kenny Orr said. “If we don’t turn the ball over, we’re a pretty good team. I’ll take us taking shots, hitting shots instead of going and turning the ball over and not getting what we call a quality possession. We were fortunate enough to be able to get a couple of run outs, we hit a couple of threes, and then we’re overwhelming with our defensive presence.”

Byrnes showed life in the second half but was still outscored by Rock Hill 36-27.

Despite the Bearcats’ dominant performance, Orr saw a lot he didn’t like from his team Friday night. Rock Hill missed several point-blank attempts at the rim and only shot 9 for 17 from the free-throw line.

“I know most people are going to look at the score and be like, ‘Oh, we scored good and we did this,’ but I don’t like the fact that we missed a lot of layups,” Orr said. “I think we missed like 10 free throws, which I’m not happy about. We got to knock those easy points down. Other than that, good performances. We had a good performance by De’Ashaj, good performance by Aubrey (Stevenson) and of course, Chloe. Sarah (Anderson-Wildy) gave us a presence on the inside because (Byrnes sophomore bigs Jaida Johnson and Caroline Turner), they’re a handful.”

Crawford, who led all scorers with 26 points, holds herself and the team to the same high standard that Orr does.

She saw a lot she liked and didn’t like Friday night and hopes everyone remains hungry as they advance in the playoffs.

“For the next few games, we have to not get complacent,” Crawford said. “When (Orr) is yelling at us or telling us stuff, just take it and go with it because it’s helping us when it’s time to play.”

Rock Hill (25-3) will host Mauldin in the upper state semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Other Friday night scores

4A Girls:

South Pointe 63, Greenwood 24

2A Boys:

Andrew Jackson 78, Bishop England 38

Oceanside Collegiate 73, York Prep 37

1A Girls:

Southside Christian 48, Lewisville 33

This story was originally published February 16, 2024 at 12:00 AM.