Rock Hill girls’ basketball edges Mauldin after big second half, reaches state semifinals
Rock Hill overcame a halftime deficit to beat Mauldin, 51-33, in the quarterfinal round of the 5A SCHSL Girls’ Basketball State Tournament on Monday.
It was a battle between the past two 5A girls’ basketball state champions, and it did not disappoint.
Rock Hill jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first quarter, but Mauldin got hot in the second quarter and took a 22-20 lead into halftime.
The Bearcats came out of the break and played dominant on both sides of the court, outscoring the Mavericks 31-11 in the final two quarters to pull away with the victory.
Rock Hill senior De’Ashaj Crawford scored a game-high 18 points, including 13 in the second half, while sophomore Chloe Hudson finished the game with 15 points.
The win punches Rock Hill’s ticket to Florence for the state semifinals on Friday night, where the Bearcats will play J.L. Mann.
More about the game
Rock Hill’s Chloe Hudson played a major role early, knocking down three 3-pointers as the Bearcats held a 13-5 lead after one.
Hudson’s hot play early forced Mauldin to send a big to guard her everywhere on the court from the second quarter on. In response to this, Hudson spent most of her time in the second half standing at half court, watching her teammates play 4v4 and helping open up the court.
“I think I definitely got our team started,” Hudson said. “When they started to do other stuff to take me away, the rest of the team stepped up and showed them that you can’t just guard one person.”
“It’s just to open up the lane more for (Aubrey Stevenson) and (De’Ashaj Crawford) so they can drive,” Hudson added. “If we can take a big out that blocks shots, that makes their job a whole lot easier. No reason to crowd in their space.”
After a tough second quarter, the Bearcats found their footing again with a 15-5 third quarter to take a 35-27 lead. The fourth quarter went much the same, with Rock Hill’s suffocating defense pairing with an efficient offense as the Bearcats won the final quarter 16-6.
Mauldin’s all-state guard Jahzara Leamon finished the game with 16 points, but only six of those came in the second half.
“We can switch things up,” Rock Hill coach Kenny Orr said. “We can be multifaceted when it comes to different defenses. I don’t like to show too many looks in the first half and then show something in the second half because I know the team is going into halftime with a plan. So we kind of hid that one in our back pocket.”
Crawford served as a steadying offensive presence for Rock Hill, especially in the fourth quarter, during which she scored 10 points .
When Mauldin brought the game back within single digits with fewer than three minutes remaining, Crawford scored and-one layups on consecutive possessions and knocked down the free throw both times to extend Rock Hill’s lead to 15.
“I feel like I started off kind of rocky,” Crawford said. “After halftime, I knew that we had to come and change how we were playing or we were going to get sent home. So second half, listened to Kenny, went in strong, and focused on making the basket and making it count when my team needed me.”
Junior guard Aubrey Stevenson played her previous two years of high school basketball at Legion Collegiate Academy.
She came to Rock Hill with the goal to play in these big games in these big moments, and she delivered Monday night.
Stevenson didn’t have the best shooting night but still scored nine points and often set the pace for the offense.
When Mauldin started to use a full-court press late in the game to force turnovers, it was Stevenson’s speed, ballhandling ability and court vision that allowed to either dribble through the defenders or find the open person down the court.
“I just know when I’m not scoring on the offensive side, I just have to get rebounds for my team, get the shots that count for them,” Stevenson said. “I have to create for my team. I’m the point guard, I can do that. I’ll find my shooters in the corner, make it easy for my bigs to finish their layups.”
Other Monday night scores
Hampton County 68, Andrew Jackson 56
This story was originally published February 19, 2024 at 8:36 PM.