Darlington girls capture first lower state title

BENNETTSVILLE — The fourth quarter.

Eight minutes of basketball that determines who wins and loses. In this case, eight minutes determined who would get a trip to Columbia and who would have a year to think about what they could have done differently.

Darlington won the fourth quarter and is heading to its first state championship following a 61-53 over rival Wilson on Friday in the Class 3A lower state title game at Marlboro County.

The Falcons (25-2), who swept all three meetings from Wilson, will meet the winner of today’s Class 3A upper state title game between Lower Richland and Riverside next Saturday in Columbia.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game. We weathered the storm,” Falcons coach Brian Rozzelle said. “The next step is to get to Columbia and do it again.”

Wilson, which was attempting to defeat its third No. 1 seed of the posteason, finished the
season at 23-5.

“From the first round (of the Class 3A playoffs) to the third round, we wanted to get back here to prove to Darlington we can play,” Wilson coach Ann Talbert said. “And we did.”

Trailing 44-42 after three periods, Darlington turned up the pressure on the Tigers. The Falcons forced turnovers and turned them into points.

It took some late magic, however, for the Falcons to wrestle the game away for good. Jazz Green’s layup at the 1:51 mark gave Darlington a 51-50 advantage.

After a Tiger miss and a Darlington free throw, Jessica McCall converted a three-point play to make it 55-50 with 1:12 remaining. From there, the Falcons hit six of eight free throws.

Green led all scorers with 18 points for Darlington. Kierra Patterson followed with 15 points, and Antionette McPhail added 12 before fouling out with 2:43 left.

“We were eight minutes away,” Talbert said. “I felt like we had control of the game through the first three quarters, but the shots didn’t fall for us.”

Said Rozzelle. “We refused to lose, and this team wasn’t ready to go home.”

Rozelle thinks a major key in his team’s win was going away from their signature up-tempo offensive and pressure defensive games.

“It was a different atmosphere. You can’t do things the same way all the time,” he said. “You have to do things differently, and the girls did a great job adjusting.”

Foul shooting was problematic for both teams, but it proved to be devastating for Wilson, which connected on just 10 of its 26 attempts.

Darlington wasn’t much better, hitting on only 13 of 28 free throws. But they were able to hit foul shots at critical moments.

“A free throw here and a missed shot there. That’s going to happen,” Talbert said. “We’re proud of this team, and everything they did tonight.”

The opening period was one characterized by runs. Trailing 4-0, the Falcons outscored Wilson 11-0 over the next 2:25 to take an 11-4 advantage with 3:33 left in the first.

The Tigers were not to be outdone. Wilson ended the quarter on a 10-5 run and trailed just 16-14 entering the second period.

The energy from both teams failed to cease in the second. Both teams matched each other spectacular shot for spectacular shot.

Then, Lauren Green took over. With the Tigers leading 27-26 in the final seconds of the first half, the senior guard scored four of her nine points, including an uncontested layup as time expired to hand her squad a 31-26 lead at the break.

Brieanna Taylor led the Tigers with 13 points. Tish White and Brittney Davis each added 10.

“Wilson did a great job of keeping us at bay,” Rozzelle said. “We didn’t play well in the first half but we felt pretty good trailing by five at halftime.“