Girls’ hoops playoff highlights: Clover overcomes early push, Rock Hill survives, more
Several girls’ basketball teams in The Herald’s coverage area competed in the first round of the playoffs.
Here are the highlights and the latest from Tuesday night.
Clover draws high praise in win over Mauldin
CLOVER — Sherer Hopkins has been at the Clover girls’ basketball program’s helm “a long time.”
And this particular team, she remarked cautiously after the Blue Eagles’ 74-39 win over Mauldin in the first round of the 5A state playoffs on Tuesday night, is among the best she’s ever coached.
“It’s definitely the most athletic team, top to bottom, that I’ve ever had, I would say,” Sherer told The Herald postgame, taking a few seconds in between words. “I’ve had some really good players in the past. Really good. Some that have gone big places. But yes, this is a very talented, athletic team.”
As far as the spectators in Clover High School’s main gym on Tuesday night are concerned, her analysis checks out: The Blue Eagles, who won a region championship despite dropping their penultimate game of the regular season to Rock Hill in heartbreaking fashion, proved on Tuesday night how powerful they were.
Clover clung to a 21-19 lead early in the second quarter. But then the game flipped on its head. The Blue Eagles scored 10 unanswered points — spearheaded by senior Mariana Ballard, who finished with 20 points (with four 3-pointers), and Ashley Farmer, who scored all six of her points in the run that effectively sealed the game.
“It’s very exciting,” Ballard said postgame. “I’m glad it didn’t end tonight. We want to go all the way.”
The run largely came with Clover’s starting point guard Aylesha Wade on the bench with foul trouble. She still finished with 20 points.
Outside of an instance where she put the ball behind her back while in stride for a layup — “I decided to pull it out... I’m going to finish it next time,” she said postgame — Wade’s most memorable move came late in the fourth quarter, with her on the sideline, her team comfortably and insurmountably ahead.
In said memorable play, Wade rose up as high as she did all night after Mauldin called a timeout to give her teammate a chest bump at midcourt.
“(Farmer) went between the legs, crossed, kicked it and found our teammate for a three,” Wade recalled with a big smile. “So she made it. And that’s good basketball; that’s what we practice. And I was glad to see it and I gotta celebrate with my teammates.”
Outside of Ballard and Wade, the Blue Eagles were also helped by Janelle Carter, who finished with 11 points, and Lauren Deal, who scored eight.
Clover will face Westside on Friday night at home.
And despite how tough it must be to resist looking toward ultimate glory for this team — Hopkins rests assured: They won’t.
“Well, I mean, always at the beginning of the season, that’s your ultimate goal,” Hopkins said, referencing a state title. “And so, we do talk about how important it is to take it one game at a time, one series at a time, one everything.
“Lots of things come into play when you’re talking about this level of basketball. Like I said, one game at a time.”
— Alex Zietlow
South Pointe asserts prowess, looks toward Lower Richmond
ROCK HILL — The South Pointe Stallions moved to the second round in the 4A playoffs with a 76-48 rout of the Travelers Rest at South Pointe.
The Stallions stormed out of the gate with pressure defense, a good transition game, and some excellent shooting and took a 20-12 lead after one period.
Randi Neal led the charge in the first eight minutes with a dozen points. Trinity Adams and Jamia Blake got four points each in the session.
The second period was more of the same. The Stallions outscored Travelers Rest 22-15 to take a 42-27 lead at intermission. Neal got eight more, while Adams chipped in seven and Blake contributed five.
South Pointe continued the assault in the third period. When it was over, they were up 59-36, and they coasted from there for the one-sided victory.
Neal led the way with 34 points. Blake finished with 22 points. She handed out 11 assists, and got six rebounds. Adams also finished in double digits with 15 points.
Mallory Bruce led Travelers Rest with 28 points.
South Pointe head coach Stephanie Butler-Graham was pleased with the Stallions’ overall performance.
“We did a lot of good things tonight,” Butler-Graham said. “We played good defense. That is where we always start, and we got a balanced scoring attack.”
The Stallions, who finished second in their region, have gotten to where they are for several reasons.
“We have worked hard all season,” she added. “The players are very coachable, and they are unselfish. We have been in some challenging situations this year, and they have made us mentally tough. We will need that down the stretch.”
South Pointe improved to 24-2 and will travel to play Lower Richland in the second round on Friday night.
— Sam Copeland
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Nation Ford can’t overcome Dorman quick start, falls in first round
ROEBUCK – Nation Ford head coach Coretta Richmond knew it was coming. Still, there was nothing she could do.
The tidal wave of offense in the first quarter from the Dorman Cavaliers was too much for the Nation Ford Falcons to overcome, as they fell, 71-60, in the first round of the 5A girls’ basketball playoffs.
“We gave all we could and left it on the floor,” Richmond said. “Our execution wasn’t what we had planned for. We played hard. This was a good group.”
Nation Ford finished the season at 14-12 overall, while Dorman improved to 18-9 and moves on to the second round of the playoffs to face T.L. Hanna.
For the most part, Nation Ford stayed with Dorman — but the quickness of the Cavaliers in the first quarter made the difference in the game, as they started fast and never let up. Dorman led 26-14 after the first quarter and was paced by 12 points from senior Alexis Rice, who dropped in a game-leading 27 points.
Trailing after one quarter by 12 points, Nation Ford was able to regroup and kept pace with Dorman in the second quarter, but struggled to make up any ground from that explosive opening period. The Falcons outscored Dorman 18-13 in the second quarter, but still trailed by seven at the half.
One thing that plagued Nation Ford throughout the game was turnovers: The team committed 23 turnovers, compared to just 10 from Dorman. The majority of those turnovers came in the first half, as the Falcons struggled with handling the ball.
Nation Ford had three players in double figures, led by senior Adrienne Ruffalo, who finished with 21 points. Senior Kelci Adams added 15 points and senior Denaundria Greene added 10 points as well in the loss.
The majority of Adams’ points came in the first half, as they started double teaming her in the second half leading her to take just three shots. Ruffalo, who had nine points in the first half scored 12 in the second half as the offense allowed her to get more open looks with Adams double teamed.
Nation Ford shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, and played better in the third quarter going 7-for-13 from the field. Dorman slowed the pace in the second half, and the Falcons opened the second half on an 8-4 run pulling within three points at 43-40. However, the Cavaliers called a timeout to regroup and then scored the next six points to push their lead to nine.
Dorman matched Nation Ford nearly shot-for-shot in the third quarter, which allowed the team to push its lead to 56-47 to begin the final quarter. Again, the Falcons made a run in the fourth quarter scoring the first five points, but Dorman started holding the ball and letting time run off the clock with about 3:30 left in the game forcing Nation Ford to start fouling and sending them to the line.
Dorman went 9-for-16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, as the Falcons struggled to take advantage of their offensive opportunities when they presented themselves. Nation Ford hit just four fourth quarter shots from the field and four foul shots, as again the Cavaliers matched them with nearly every possession.
— Mac Banks (mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM)
Jada Jones scores 25 points, helps Rock Hill advance past Spartanburg
The Rock Hill Bearcats made their way to the second round of the 5A playoffs by edging Spartanburg, 56-54, at Rock Hill Tuesday night.
The ‘Cats were in a battle all night. After one period, Rock Hill led 13-11. There were four ties and four lead changes in the opening eight minutes, and it would be that way the rest of the night.
Rock Hill surged to a seven-point cushion in the first three minutes of the second quarter. JuJu Stringfellow’s three-point basket was the key in the five-point spree that opened the second quarter.
Spartanburg responded. They went on a 7-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to tie the game with just more than two minutes left until halftime. Rock Hill outscored Spartanburg 9-5 the rest of the way to take a 27-23 cushion at the break.
The final two quarters were close all the way. When the third quarter was over, the ‘Cats were in front 42-40, and the two teams battled on even terms in the final period.
It was another solid team effort for Rock Hill. Jada Jones led the way with 25 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Dynasty Pichardo added eight points and pulled down six rebounds. Gracie Wilson tossed in eight points, and Stringfellow and Mya Wise added six each. Wise also had seven rebounds.
The Bearcats have gotten to this point for several reasons.
“Our players bought in a long time ago,” head coach Kenny Orr, who earned his 151st career win, told The Herald in a phone interview after the game. “We have learned to play together well as the season has progressed.”
The Bearcats have also not relied on one player to do it all.
“We do not have a bona fide star on this team.” added Orr. “We pick each other up all the time, and we have had multiple players be the leading scorer in a game.”
The big key has been the defense.
“We start there, and we stress that,” he said. “The key moving forward is to continue to play good defense. If we do that we can get teams out of their comfort zone.”
Rock Hill is now 20-7 and will play at Irmo in the second round on Friday night.
— Sam Copeland
Fort Mill falls in first round on the road
T. L. Hanna defeated the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets 50-24 in the opening round of the 5A playoffs Tuesday night in Anderson.
Hanna led 10-9 after one period, and increased it to 19-10 at halftime
Fort Mill regrouped and got back in the game. They cut the deficit to 22-20 midway through the third quarter, but Hanna responded. They outscored Fort Mill 13-1 to close the third period with a 35-21 advantage.
Hanna won the fourth quarter 15-3 to pull away for the win.
Fort Mill ends its season with a record of 12-12.
— Sam Copeland
More news from Tuesday night
- Andrew Jackson girls’ basketball downs Landrum, 44-22
- Chester boys’ basketball falls to Union County, 85-78, on Tuesday night — ending their quest to finish what they came so close to accomplishing in last year’s near-Upper State Championship run.
- Indian Land boys win, 83-71, over Newberry.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 10:47 PM.
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