Rock Hill loses to Sumter in state championship game

Rock Hill lost to Sumter 60-42 in the SCHSL 5A girls’ basketball state championship game on Friday night.

Rock Hill led early 3-0 thanks to a Chloe Hudson 3-pointer to open the game, but the Bearcats would lose the lead after a Sumter jumpshot gave the Gamecocks a 4-3 lead with just under six minutes left in the first quarter.

Rock Hill would not lead again in the game.

Both teams battled it out in the first quarter as Sumter took a 10-6 lead into the second quarter.

The second frame saw both offenses come alive, and every time Rock Hill cut into the deficit, Sumter had an answer.

A 3-pointer by De’Ashaj Crawford made the score 22-20 Sumter with 2:43 left in the game.

Those would be the last points the Bearcats scored in the first half as Sumter closed the half on a 8-0 run to extend its lead to 30-20 at halftime.

“It wasn’t really the game plan,” Rock Hill head coach Kenny Orr said. “We just started doing things that we said not to do. It was 22-17, and we hit a three to make it 22-20. And then we proceed to let them go down and hit a three. That took it to 25-20. And then we had (two) straight possessions where we turned the ball over. And (Sumter) was able to score two layups, which is four points, and we fouled on another one and gave them one out of two. It went from being a two-point game to a 10-point situation just like that.”

The second half wasn’t much kinder to the Bearcats, as the team combined for just seven total field goals made over the final two quarters.

In a seven-minute stretch from 5:00 in the third quarter to 6:00 in the fourth, the Bearcats only scored one point as they saw the deficit grow from 32-25 to 45-26 in that span.

Sumter was able to salt the game away as Rock Hill continued to struggle from the field.

Collectively, the team went 12 for 50 (24%) from the field, including 7 for 29 (24%) from beyond the arc. Sumter shot 34% from the field and 50% from three.

“We picked the wrong day to not play at our best level,” Orr said. “Our shots weren’t falling, but it’s not just a bad game; Sumter’s a worthy opponent. They did what they wanted to do moreso than what we wanted to do, so it was just a combination of a bad game and the wrong opponent to have a bad game against.”

Crawford led the Bearcats with 14 points in the loss.

Rock Hill finishes its season 27-4.

This story was originally published March 1, 2024 at 12:00 AM.