Lancaster girls bypass Chester for fifth straight win
Powder puff football practice has paid off for the Lancaster girls’ basketball team.
(What?)
Bruins senior Hayden Thorne is the quarterback, snagging rebounds under the basket and tossing touchdown bombs to her teammates for easy layups. That scheme was on full display in the defending 3A state champs’ 69-50 win over Chester Tuesday night.
“I know they’re gonna be open and they’ll catch it,” said Thorne, one of several members of the basketball team involved with powder puff football. “It’s just chemistry.”
One play exemplified the Bruins’ use of the entire length of the court. Thorne grabbed a defensive rebound, chucked the ball toward the other basket – did she even look? – to teammate Malia Rivers. She caught up with the ball before it went out of bounds, flicking it to Alexis Williams for a bucket.
No. 2-ranked Lancaster’s aerial passing attack wasn’t limited to down-court heaves for layups. The Bruins – not as deep as last season – capably tossed skip passes around Chester’s defense to get easy looks from outside, or to switch the point of attack before quickly dumping the ball to a post player inside.
“Just ball movement,” said Lancaster coach Ronnie Robinson. “Get the defense moving.”
Turning point
The light turned green Tuesday night and Lancaster’s wheels were already spinning.
Rivers buried a 3 on the first possession, then stole the ball and went end-to-end for a layup. After Deja Marshall’s pull-up jumper, Rivers scored again off a steal, before turning her own pilfer into a bucket for Keyotta Garris, and a 9-2 lead that forced Chester into a timeout with just barely 3 minutes expired.
The Bruins grew that lead to 16-2, before Chester regained its footing, and while the Cyclones played better the rest of the first half, the fatal damage was done.
Critical
Lancaster scored 19 points in both the first and third quarters to put away Chester. The Cyclones struggled immensely with the Bruins’ pressure defense in the first, before starting slowly in the third to allow Lancaster to pull away.
Star contributors
Rivers was ace as usual for the Bruins, leading Lancaster with 31 points, adding nine rebounds, six assists and five steals.
“She’s playing well,” Robinson said. “Malia is a special player. One of the top players in 3A in the state of South Carolina.”
Williams was the beneficiary of many of Rivers’ assists; the post player finished with 18 points, four steals and four blocks. Thorne – the quarterback – hauled in 11 rebounds and blocked five shots.
Chester would have long been out of the game were it not for Marshall. The senior led the Cyclones with 31 points.
“She’s good,” said Robinson. “We tried to make it as difficult as possible but she can knock down some shots. She’s a heck of a player.”
Overheard
“Some say a loss is a good loss, others say no loss is a good loss,” Robinson said, referring to the Bruins’ two defeats to Rock Hill in non-region play, their only blemishes this season. “You just have to take whatever from each game, get better at what you need to work on.”
On deck
Lancaster hosts Clinton Friday; Chester hosts Union County.
Box score
Lancaster 69, Chester 50
Chester;8;12;10;20- 50
Lancaster;19;13;19;18- 69
Scoring
Chester: Najah Killian 6; Deja Marshall 31; Jada Bowser 2; India Boyd 2; Browniee McCrorey 9. Lancaster: Malia Rivers 31, Keiana Howze 3, Alexis Williams 18, Amirah Steward 5, Hayden Thorne 6, Keyotta Garris 6.
Team fouls: Chester 13; Lancaster 17
Foul-shooting: Chester 10-20; Lancaster 5-14
3-pointers: Chester 2 (Marshall 2); Lancaster 6 (Rivers 4, Steward 1, Howze 1)
Records: Chester 4-9, 0-2 Region 3-3A; Lancaster 9-2, 2-0
This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 8:32 PM with the headline "Lancaster girls bypass Chester for fifth straight win."