Winning 3A girls’ basketball state title no tall task for Lancaster, Lakewood
Sitting together at a conference table at the South Carolina High School League’s headquarters, the representatives of Lakewood and Lancaster high schools’ girls’ basketball teams could have been introduced as “the giant slayers.”
Neither team’s roster is very tall but that has mattered little. Lakewood (22-4) won the 3A Lower State title last weekend with a 49-29 headlock of crosstown (Sumter) rival Crestwood. Lancaster (26-0), ranked No. 1 in 3A polls since mid-season, edged defending state champion Dreher 42-35 on Saturday to win the Upper State championship.
Saturday in Columbia at 5:30 p.m., Lancaster and Lakewood will meet for the 3A state title game. Having overcome taller opponents in the state semifinals, the two teams face much more similar-looking foes at Colonial Life Arena.
“They kind of mirror us with the pressure defense,” said Bruins coach Ronnie Robinson. “But I think our inside play is going to be key. If we handle that pressure, I think we’ll do good … the main thing is to not turn the ball over, allow them to get in transition and score off their defense.”
Lakewood outlasted Orangeburg-Wilkinson 55-51 in overtime in the second round, a huge win for the Gators considering their opponents’ height. Orangeburg-Wilkinson, which spent much of the season ranked in the top-five in the state, boasted seven players taller than 6-foot. The Gators have no player taller than 5-foot-10.
Lancaster only has two players who are 6-foot, senior Mia Flowers and junior Hayden Thorne. And yet the Bruins were able to confront and overcome the challenge Dreher posed with its twin towers, All-State junior Jhileya Dunlap (6-foot-2), and 6-foot-1 sophomore Jaelynn Murray. Robinson said his team worked on offensive head-fakes all week to avoid Dreher’s shot-blockers, and only one of his players followed through Saturday, freshman Zaria Woods, who led the Bruins with 18 points.
Against taller teams the defensive key for both Lancaster and Lakewood is the havoc they foster before the ball ever gets into the paint.
“As a team, we like to control the game,” said Lakewood coach Frances Fields, who played at High Point from 2007 to 2011 and is only 25 years old. “We like to play up-tempo, but we like to play our ball. We like to be up on you on defense and then offense we like to take our time.”
It’s a tough balancing act for a team to crank up the speed of the game on defense, then shift back a gear on offense. Fields credits her point guard, sophomore Kamryn Lemon, and All-State standout Sonara Dengoki – a UNC Asheville signee – with negotiating that balance successfully this season.
“I give full control to my point guard. It’s crazy because she’s the youngest one on the team,” Fields said about Lemon. “Whenever she has trouble, that’s when I get at her.”
Robinson’s Bruins have been able to do something similar. They average 15 steals per game and harry their opponents at least 75 feet of the court. On offense, junior All-State point guard Malia Rivers is the metronome for the Bruins, moving the ball from side to side in search of the best shot, or penetrating herself when able.
Often times the team’s best shot has been a second-chance opportunity. Lancaster might not have a roster that elicits oohs and aahs size-wise, but the Bruins attack rebounds on the backboards with gusto, averaging 13 offensive boards per game. Extended defensive possessions and aggressive ball-chasing should put pressure on a short Lakewood team that has an equally short rotation of mainly six players.
“Well, we hope it does,” said Robinson. “We love to play a lot of people and we love to get easy baskets.”
That doesn’t worry Lakewood’s Fields, though, after her team overcame Orangeburg-Wilkinson’s multiple 6-footers and Crestwood’s 6-foot-4 All-State standout Shaquanda Miller-McCray.
“I already feel like we played against the giants,” said Fields, laughing. “They can handle height difference. They just have to play together.”
Notes
This story was originally published March 3, 2015 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Winning 3A girls’ basketball state title no tall task for Lancaster, Lakewood."