Lady Red Foxes fall in quarterfinals Monday

GOOSE CREEK – Hartsville’s 46-43 loss to Goose Creek Monday in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs came down to one thing in particular: the Lady Gators’ physical presence.

The visiting Lady Red Foxes led midway through the fourth quarter but ultimately came up short down the stretch against a powerful Goose Creek squad that has been consistently ranked as a top-two team in Class 4A and recently captured the Region VII championship.

“It was very physical,” Hartsville coach Pat Hewitt said. “The girls played hard; they didn’t give up, [but] I think it took them out of their game a little bit because we certainly aren’t used to that physical style. But we played a good basketball team.”

With the victory, the Lady Gators improve to 25-1 on the season and will meet the winner of Tuesday’s West Ashley/Dutch Fork game in the Lower State championship Friday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at The Citadel’s McAlister Field House in Charleston.

A back-and-forth first half saw the Lady Red Foxes recover from a 13-9 first-quarter deficit to head into the locker room at halftime with a 29-24 advantage.

The third quarter was a different story, however. Hartsville tallied only one basket – a three-pointer from Kiasiah Ham at the 6:56 mark of the frame. Despite the poor performance, the Lady Red Foxes were still in the game, trailing by only three points, 35-32, heading into the final frame.

“We definitely had cold shooting – we couldn’t put it in the ocean,” Hewitt said. “We had a hard time getting anything to fall – even on the inside.”

Back-to-back three-balls from Shebria Jett gave Hartsville a one-point fourth-quarter advantage, 38-37, but the lead would be short-lived. With 3:33 remaining, DeAndra Wright’s drive to the basket was successful as she was fouled by Ham. Wright knocked down the ensuing free-throw to complete the three-point play, energizing the lively Gator Dome crowd and sealing the Lady Red Foxes’ fate, as Goose Creek would not trail again.

Hartsville was plagued by untimely turnovers as the clock ticked away and was forced to send the Lady Gators to the free-throw line. Goose Creek sunk five of six free throws in the final minute of play, and Jett’s try as time expired still left the Lady Red Foxes three points short of sending the game to overtime.

Hartsville junior Jasmine Phillips was held scoreless in an uncharacteristically-poor second half after racking up a team-high 12 points through the first two frames of play.

The Lady Gators’ Aleighsa Welch commanded the court, registering a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and a 5-of-8 effort from the charity stripe

“She’s a very strong player and a great rebounder,” Hewitt said. “She doesn’t box out, she goes above you and goes to get it, and does a great job. She’s a great basketball player. We were not able to stop her inside.”

The 6-foot junior has already attracted significant interest and offers from NCAA Division I institutions.

As a team, the Lady Red Foxes held the rebounding edge by a 42-34 margin and nailed six of 17 (35 percent) three-pointers, but the squad shot just 26 percent (15 of 58) overall from the floor. Jett led Hartsville with a 15-point effort. Each of her five field goals was from beyond the arc.

Goose Creek was successful on 18 of 48 (38 percent) field goal attempts.

The Lady Red Foxes, who were coming off a 76-48 triumph over Irmo in the second round, end their season with a 20-7 mark. Hartsville will lose only two seniors for next season – Ham and Brandi Jones.

“Any time you can win a game in the playoffs you’re doing pretty darn good,” Hewitt concluded. “We knew it’d be tough coming in here. We’d have loved to of course go on, but it just didn’t happen, and we wish [the Lady Gators] the best of luck.”

Hartsville
Jackson 1-8 (4-4), 6
K. Ham 3-13 (1-1), 8
T. Ham 0-1 (0-0), 0
Phillips 5-15 (2-4), 12
Jett 5-12 (0-0), 15
Jones 1-6 (0-0), 2
Toney 0-3 (0-0), 0

FG: 15-58 (26 percent)
FT: 7-9 (78 percent)
3pt FG: 6-17 (35 percent)

Goose Creek
Wright 3-11 (1-1),
Hawkins 1-6 (2-2), 4
Fields 7-12 (1-3), 15
Bryant 0-2 (0-1), 0
Nelson 0-1 (0-0), 0
Welch 7-14 (5-8), 19
Jones 0-2 (0-2), 0

FG: 18-48 (38 percent)
FT: 9-17 (53 percent)
3pt FG: 1-4 (25 percent)