Gilchrist's late basket lifts Wilson girls

FLORENCE — With her team locked in a tight game against Crestwood with loads of postseason implications, Wilson coach Ann Talbert looked for a spark.

The Tigers didn’t need to look very far to find one.

Samira Gilchrist scored 10 points off the bench, including the game-winning basket with 12.9 seconds left, as Wilson defeated the Knights, 45-43, in girls basketball action Tuesday night.

Wilson’s win, combined with losses from Darlington and Lakewood, clinched a Class 3A playoff berth and a No. 3 seed. Crestwood’s loss coupled with Marlboro County’s win over Lakewood ends the regular season in a tie for the Knights and Bulldogs.

After Demetria Kirkland hit two free throws to tie the game at 43-43 with 22.3 seconds left, the Knights went into a full-court press to force a quick turnover. But the Tigers broke Crestwood’s pressure and
Gilchrist was alone under the basket for an easy layup.

All of Gilchrist’s points came in the second half. Brittany McIver and Tish White followed with nine and eight points, respectively.

“Samira was awesome tonight,” said Talbert, whose Tigers improved to 16-7 overall and 6-4 in Region 6-3A play. “The team fed off her, and she did a great job finishing.”

The importance of the contest might have gotten to both teams in the first half. Sloppy play defined by turnovers and missed layups characterized the opening 16 minutes as the Tigers limped into the
locker room leading 21-17 at halftime.

“I think both teams were thinking about the standings instead of playing basketball,” Talbert said. “Both teams have played much better than that this season.”

“We missed out on a whole lot of opportunities in the first half,” said Crestwood coach Tony Wilson, whose Knights fell to 22-5 overall and 7-3 in region action. “We committed 15 turnovers in the first half,
and that’s unacceptable.

“It cost us the game.”

Crestwood had a few chances to tie or win the game at the end. Several players missed open shots for the Knights in the final seconds before Tierra Allen’s shot fell short of the mark as time expired.

“(Our players) had pretty good looks,” Wilson said. “If we had taken care of the little things, we wouldn’t have been in that situation.”

“I think our team did an excellent job on defense,” Talbert said. “(The Knights) have bigger players, but we had bigger hearts and we held them down at the end.”

Crestwood’s Deniqua Lewis and Kanaya Murray each finished with 11 points to lead all scorers.

BOYS
Wilson 76, Crestwood 48
The Tigers (15-10 overall, 5-5 Region 6-3A) led by six points in the fourth quarter before finishing the game on a 29-7 run that turned a competitive game into a rout.

As the No.4 seed in its region, Wilson opens the Class 3A playoffs on Tuesday against an opponent to be determined. Jared Charles connected on four 3-pointers to lead the Tigers with 12 points, and Maliek McCall added 10.

“We stretched the lead out to 14 or 15 points early in the second half, and we let (Crestwood) back into the game,” Tigers coach DeAndre Scott said. “We put pressure on them, got some turnovers and
transition buckets and made some shots.”

Scott added he was proud of his squad’s bench production. Jashawn Thomas and Joshua Hall each scored eight points of the bench to spark Wilson’s fourth-quarter explosion.

“Our seniors got us off to a good start,” Scott said. “The younger players wanted to send the seniors off in style and give us some momentum for the playoffs.”

Kenneth Brandon and Kevin Bennett scored 13 points apiece to lead Crestwood, who ends the season 4-19 overall and 1-9 in region play.