South Pointe-Northwestern games reveal potential, plus all area basketball scores, standings
Rock Hill saw a marquee pair of games on Friday night at Northwestern High School — the first a South Pointe girls 47-45 win over Northwestern; the second a Northwestern boys 60-53 win over South Pointe.
And both games revealed how good all four teams involved could one day be.
On the girls’ side, South Pointe (4-3) was composed when it mattered most and won despite a few imperfections: The team shot 29% from the field, shot 35% from the free throw line and allowed 21 Northwestern offensive rebounds. The Stallions were also forced to overcome an 8-0 Northwestern run to end the first half — a run that, in the moment, felt like a game-changing one.
But South Pointe, thanks to the leadership of senior Najah Lane (17 points) and strong defense down the stretch, found a way to win anyway.
“Offensively in the first half, she was aggressive,” South Pointe head coach Butler-Graham said of Lane in an interview postgame. “She got back to how I know Najah can play. … Tonight for her to play aggressive, and to pretty much play the whole game — down the stretch she was able to talk to the girls and say, ‘Hey this is what we need to do.’ And to just keep folks calm.”
The coach added: “I hope we can just continue to work and get better and find our team identity, and what it is we want to be good at. I think once we figure that out… we’ll be OK.”
Butler-Graham gave Northwestern (3-3) credit for playing hard. The Trojans, after all, lost to the Stallions by 23 and 20 in their two contests last season.
The two main reasons for the big improvement? The addition of some post talent — seventh-grade forward Janiya Cunningham had 10 points — and the progression of Darby Grigg. (The point guard finished with 12 points and both of the team’s two 3-pointers.)
Outside of Lane, South Pointe was led by Taylor Stehmeirer (14 points), Victoria Morris (six), Shakiya Nichols (six), Miriah Dickerson (two) and Zaria Bell (two).
Beyond Grigg and Cunningham, Northwestern was led by DeKayla Starr (nine points), Alexis Thompson (four), Jazmon Mayberry (five) and Rachel Outen (five).
The girls’ game was closer in score, but the boys’ game was equally competitive.
It was revealing, too: The Trojans (7-2) played well thanks to double-digit scoring performances from Jayden Boyd (13 points), Jalen Burnett (13 points) and Will Brooks (17 points). It didn’t hurt that the Trojans handled South Pointe’s press well — a secret weapon of sorts that helped launch South Pointe on its state championship run last season — and received some timely shooting from twins Jecari (eight points) and Omari Bryson. (Omari scored five points, most of which came on a step-back three right as time expired in the third quarter. The shot appeared to take the wind out of South Pointe’s proverbial sails.)
“I’m proud of our kids,” Northwestern head coach Caleb Gaither told The Herald postgame. “We played a complete game. That was our message going in, was to play a complete game. Each possession we had to battle. … For the most part, we matched their intensity and brought the physicality, so I think that was the difference in the game.”
Gaither knows his team’s potential, he said, and thinks it can “make a run” in this year’s playoffs. That confidence is drawn from several big wins early in the season — including the one on Friday night — as well as from the two losses (to Lancaster and Clover, both of which had a margin of two points).
“I think we have a chance to do that,” Gaither said of his team’s prospects going deep in the playoffs. “The kids are very coachable, man, so I think we’ll get there.”
The Stallions were led by JJ Hicklin (19 points), Quan Peterson (nine) and Waymond Jenerette (six).
Girls basketball scores this week
Monday
Rock Hill 79, Andrew Jackson 26
Lancaster 46, Chester 16
Catawba Ridge 79, South Point (NC) 45
Tuesday
Fort Mill 45, White Knoll 4
Nation Ford 39, York 33
Northwestern 54, Clover 29
Cuthbertson 52, Andrew Jackson 40
York Prep 42, Pageland Central 40
Wednesday
Lancaster 46, Monroe 33
Catawba Ridge 49, Marvin Ridge 43
Union 58, Chester 35
North Central 39, Lewisville 27
Thursday
Columbia 49, Chester 36
Friday
South Pointe 47, Northwestern 45
Catawba Ridge 70, Nation Ford 40
Marvin Ridge 78, Fort Mill 37
Blacksburg 50, Indian Land 26
Boys basketball scores this week
Monday
Andrew Jackson 57, Rock Hill 56
Lancaster 45, Chester 31
Catawba Ridge 67, South Point (NC) 44
Tuesday
Fort Mill 72, White Knoll 54
Nation Ford 73, York 40
Northwestern 53, Clover 37
York Prep 71, Pageland Central 41
Wednesday
Lancaster 46, Monroe 43
Catawba Ridge 67, Marvin Ridge 32
Union 55, Chester 42
North Central 58, Lewisville 45
Thursday
Chester 70, Columbia 34
Friday
Clover 62, York 34
Fort Mill 59, Marvin Ridge 51
Northwestern 60, South Pointe 53
Catawba Ridge 44, Nation Ford 40
York Prep 62, Andrew Jackson 40
Region standings
Region 4-5A (girls): Rock Hill 9-3, Spring Valley 6-3, Northwestern 3-3, Ridge View 2-6, Blythewood 0-7.
Region 4-5A (boys): Northwestern 7-2, Blythewood 5-2, Spring Valley 6-5, Rock Hill 4-4, Ridge View 2-2.
Region 3-5A (girls): Gaffney 6-2, Clover 5-3, Nation Ford 3-7, Boiling Springs 2-5, Fort Mill 2-7.
Region 3-5A (boys): Clover 7-3, Boiling Springs 6-3, Fort Mill 6-3, Nation Ford 3-6, Gaffney 2-5.
Region 3-4A (girls): Catawba Ridge 9-1, Indian Land 4-2, Lancaster 6-2, South Pointe 4-3, York 4-4.
Region 3-4A (boys): Lancaster 10-1, Catawba Ridge 9-1, Indian Land 3-2, South Pointe 1-2, York 1-6.
Region 4-3A (girls): Fairfield Central 6-0, Keenan 5-0, Lower Richland 6-1, Mid-Carolina 7-3, Chester 1-8.
Region 4-3A (boys): Keenan 4-4, Chester 2-7, Mid-Carolina 2-8, Fairfield Central 1-4, Lower Richland 1-4.
Region 4-2A (girls): Chesterfield 7-0 (2-0 in region), York Prep 2-1 (1-0 in region), Buford 2-2 (1-0 in region), Andrew Jackson 4-3, Cheraw 3-5 (1-1 in region), North Central 3-4 (0-2 in region), Pageland Central 1-7 (0-2 in region).
Region 4-2A (boys): North Central 8-0 (2-0 in region), York Prep 7-0 (2-0 in region), Buford 4-3 (1-0 in region), Pageland Central 4-5 (1-1 in region), Andrew Jackson 6-5 (0-1 in region), Chesterfield 5-2 (0-2 in region), Cheraw 1-10 (0-2 in region).
Region 2-1A (girls): McBee 3-2, Lewisville 1-6, Governor’s School 0-2, Great Falls 0-4, CA Johnson 0-5.
Region 2-1A (boys): CA Johnson 5-2, Governor’s School 2-1, Great Falls 2-4, Lewisville 1-6, McBee 0-7.
Dec. 15 South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association rankings
These rankings were released by the SCBCA on Wednesday. Teams within The Herald’s coverage area are displayed in bold.
5A Girls: 1. Dorman, 2. Lexington, 3. Byrnes, 4. Rock Hill, 5. Sumter, 6. Summerville, 7. Stall, 8. Stratford, 9. Cane Bay, 10. Dutch Fork
5A Boys: 1. Dorman, 2. Riverside, 3. Ridge View, 4. Fort Dorchester, 5. Conway, 6. TL Hanna, 7. Mauldin, 8. Clover, 9. Northwestern, 10. Cane Bay
4A Girls: 1. Westside, 2. Aiken, 3. Catawba Ridge, 4. North Augusta, 5. South Florence, 6. AC Flora, 7. Westwood, 8. Airport, 9. Colleton County, 10. North Myrtle Beach
4A Boys: 1. South Pointe, 2. Irmo, 3. Greenville, 4. AC Flora, 5. Hartsville, 6. North Augusta, 7. Wilson, 8. West Florence, 9. Lancaster, 10. Pickens
3A Girls: 1. Keenan, 2. Lower Richland, 3. Blue Ridge, 4. Orangeburg-Wilkinson, 5. Southside, 6. Emerald, 7. Clinton, 8. Camden, 9. Aynor, 10. Oceanside
3A Boys: 1. Seneca, 2. Orangeburg-Wilkinson, 3. Blue Ridge, 4. Brookland-Cayce, 5. Dillon, 6. Fox Creek, 7. Union County, 8. Crestwood, 9. Marlboro County, 10. Oceanside
2A Girls: 1. Blacksburg, 2. Christ Church, 3. Silver Bluff, 4. Phillip Simmons, 5. Andrew Jackson, 6. Gray Collegiate, 7. Saluda, 8. Latta, 9. Marion, 10. Barnwell
2A Boys: 1. York Prep, 2. Phillip Simmons, 3. Wade Hampton, 4. Christ Church, 5. Landrum, 6. Andrew Jackson, 7. Gray Collegiate, 8. Woodland, 9. Greer Middle College, 10. Edisto
1A Girls: 1. Military Magnet, 2. East Clarendon, 3. High Point Academy, 4. Lake View, 5. Denmark-Olar, 6. Whale Branch, 7. Southside Christian, 8. McBee, 9. Cross, 10. Lamar
1A Boys: 1. Southside Christian, 2. Scott’s Branch, 3. Calhoun County, 4. Great Falls, 5. Hannah-Pamlico, 6. Carvers Bay, 7. Denmark-Olar, 8. CA Johnson, 9. Baptist Hill, 10. Charleston Math & Science
Sam Copeland contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 12:07 AM.
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