Marion, Mullins basketball fans elated by wins

The highly acclaimed Mullins boys basketball team and the highly accomplished Marion girls basketball team head to the state playoffs after winning their lower state Class 2A championship games this past Saturday in Columbia.

For the Lady Foxes, this is their first state title bid. For the Aucs, this year's win may help the players and fans may feel redeemed after losing this past year's Lower State Championship bid.Marion will play against Pendleton this coming Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and Mullins will square off against Southside at 4:15 p.m. in the Colonial Life Center in Columbia.

The Lady Foxes beat Silver Bluff 53-36 and the Auctioneers beat Wade Hampton 58-56 ... for more on these games, visit
http://www.scnow.com/scp/sports/high_school_prep/ .

Hundreds of faithful basketball fans in Marion County were excited about the highly anticipated Class 2A lower state finals games Saturday featuring the Mullins Auctioneers and Marion Lady Swamp Foxes. The games were played just miles apart as the Aucs took on Wade Hampton at Dreher High School and the Lady Foxes faced Silver Bluff at Richland Northeast High School. Both games were at 7 p.m.

For Marion it was an opportunity for the program to earn its first trip to the state championship game since 1955; the seventh and final championship run. It’s been a long road for head coach Leon Sturkey. In his fifth year, he has witnessed his team make the climb with an improvement each year, resulting in a 22-2 region championship season.

The Lady Foxes defeated Hanahan and Wade Hampton in the opening rounds, before capping off with a victory at home this past Tuesday against Woodland by a score of 66-54.

“Right now words can express how I feel. Those kids come out and play hard every single day,” Sturkey said of his team after the win, adding that it was one more step towards the ultimate goal.

Marion held a slim 31-29 advantage at halftime, but received 29 points from the dynamic unit of Genieka Brantley, Candace Wright, Jessica Grant, and Shaquita Taylor. By the end of the third quarter, Taylor nailed a jumper to give the squad a 49-39 lead heading into the final quarter.

“We did what we do best, play good pressure defense and run the ball,” Sturkey said. Brantley led the team with 20 points and 18 rebounds, along with 16 points and 11 rebounds from Wright. Taylor and Grant contributed with 13 points and 10 points respectively. Not too mention major production from Amber Timmons, Kentoria Wilson, and Amira Timmons.

Recently named to the all-state and all-region teams, Brantley is averaging 19.3 points and 17.6 rebounds in the playoffs. Candace Wright and Shaquita Taylor also made the all-region team with Brantley, along with Brittany Rowell and Brittany Applewhite of Mullins.

The Mullins Auctioneers made their second consecutive trip to the lower state finals. This past season, head coach Mark Gerald said he wanted his players to advance beyond the third round.

For this season, the Aucs are broadening their horizon with a bigger goal in mind, but are still taking it one game at a time. After winning two home openers against Manning and Silver Bluff, Mullins was on the road against a very tough and physical Kingstree team this past Tuesday. Locked in a back-and-forth battle from the opening tip-off, point guard Eric Smith broke a 15-15 tie in the final seconds of the first quarter by finishing a reverse lay-up, floating the basketball over his right shoulder softly off the glass despite the hard foul.

After a bounce pass from Stacy Wilson to Donte Cooper for a score, Mullins held a 34-26 lead at the 2:08 mark in the second quarter. Garrett Wilson and the Jaguars eventually closed in on the Aucs, down at halftime by a score of 37-35.

However, Smith’s stifling defense and explosive offense, resulted in 23 points scored in the first three quarters; ten of them in the third quarter alone. Wilson helped close the show with 15 points in the second half, as Mullins pulled away in the final quarter for the 76-65 victory. Cooper added 11 points for the Aucs.

“We talked all year about probably having to go in a hostile environment and win a game on another team’s home court,” Gerald said, adding that it was an experience his team was getting mentally and physically prepared for.

McFarland capped off the highlight of the night in the second quarter, after Smith’s steal and alley-oop off the backboard was flushed down with two hands by the “high riser.”

“Championships are not easy,” Gerald said, adding that he was looking forward to Saturday’s game.

Both Mullins and Wade Hampton enter the lower state final game with a 23-3 overall record.

The Lady Swamp Foxes jumped at the chance to knock off Woodland and earn a trip to the lower state finals game.