Spring Valley’s defense rattles young Rock Hill

Much was made about the size advantage Spring Valley had over Rock Hill as it entered Saturday’s 4A Upper State final.

Iwasn’t the deciding factor in the game. It was the Vikings’ ability to do what the Bearcats are known for doing so well – turn up the defensive pressure.

The defending state champions turned up the pressure on Rock Hill midway through the second quarter, forcing turnovers they converted into points.

The result was a 57-39 victory that propelled the Vikings into next week’s state championship and ended the Bearcats’ breakthrough season at 25-3.

The game was a rematch of last year’s second round Spring Valley win. Spring Valley head coach Anne Long is the all-time winningest coach in South Carolina girls basketball with more than 800 wins and seven state titles.

Her squad’s margin of victory was 30 points during a 12-game winning streak.

But Rock Hill was not intimidated.

The young Bearcats did not appear to have the typical jitters you would expect. They stayed with the Vikings blow-for-blow through the first quarter and only trailed by one, 14-13, heading into the second period.

Rock Hill scored the first six points of the second quarter, four coming from Brooklyn Bailey, to seize a 19-14 lead with 4:50 left in the first half.

With a 21-16 lead, and smothering 6-foot-3 Temple-bound Shantay Taylor inside, the Bearcats watched guard Christian Hithe take over for Spring Valley. Hithe, who is headed to Central Florida, scored eight straight points and nine of an 11-0 run as the Vikings started pressing and deflecting passes for steals and easy buckets. When Rock Hill’s Madison Hendrix drove all the way to the basket to score with 1:00 left in the half, it stopped the run, but the champs had turned the tables and led 27-23 at the half.

Four different Vikings scored in an 8-0 spurt in the third quarter that made it 37-27 With three pointers by RiKoya Anderson and Bailey, Rock Hill cut the lead to seven, 40-33, and had possession with under a minute left in the period, but another turnover led to a layup that pushed it back to nine and stole the Bearcats’ momentum.The Vikings then added the first 11 points of the fourth for a 13-0 run that put a stranglehold on the game and made it 53-33 with five minutes to play.

TURNING POINT

Rock Hill led 19-14 with 4:50 to go in the first half when Hithe scored nine in an 11-0 run that gave the Vikings a lead they never relinquished Thirteen straight points to start the fourth effectively sealed it.

CRITICAL

The Bearcats held Taylor to 11 points but couldn’t stop Hithe, who led all scorers with 23. The turnovers were a key factor, punctuated by one to finish the third period with a layup for Spring Valley when Rock Hill had cut the lead to seven, 40-33.

STAR CONTRIBUTORS

Sophomore Brooklyn Bailey led the Bearcats with 11 points. Hithe led all scorers with 23 and played the major role in the pivotal run for the Vikings.

OVERHEARD

“We started making soft passes, lob passes, and that was the kind of passes they wanted us to make,” Rock Hill coach Kenny Orr said. “That really hurt us.”

“I actually thought we were a year away,” Orr said of where the program has come. “They exceeded my expectations ten-fold. The senior girls established a legacy that’s going to be hard to break. They also sacrificed a lot considering we had some younger girls that stepped up really big. I can’t say enough about their leadership.”

Box score

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 11:04 PM with the headline "Spring Valley’s defense rattles young Rock Hill."