SPORTS WRAP: Lady Swamp Fox fans on the road to Columbia

The Marion High School girl’s varsity basketball team pretty much blew right through the regular season. The way they did it made me think for a moment, what if they had to play and win a close game. Could they do it? Well after a first round thrashing they put on Hanahan, as well as an easy win over Ridgeland in the second round, the game against Timberland in the third round and Bishop England in the state semi-final, all but answered that question.

When I look back at this run the girls are making this year, the Timberland game might have been the game, which defines their season. A big physical squad, Timberland played Marion on their very own terms and still lost. Marion won by 57 points over Hanahan, 19 points over Ridgeland before nipping the Lady Timberwolves by just five points. They actually trailed Bishop England as play got underway in the fourth period this past Saturday but used their superior power and inside presence to beat back a pretty good group of girls who came in with a pretty good game plan.

In the game against Timberland, Marion had to overcome a sub-par offensive game by Center Geneika Brantley. Brantley had been double and triple teamed in the post and was not the force she usually is offensively. She did managed to score 14 points and was a beast on the boards with 18 rebounds, but it took a scary game by Candace Wright to get them over the hump. Wright was able to drop in a career high 32 points but it was the next number in her stat line that jumps right off of the page. That number would be 23 rebounds. Yeah, 23 rebounds! Whoa. As it turned out Marion may have needed all of those points and rebounds to get that win.

One of the things that has really impressed me this year and especially in the playoff has been the unselfishness of the team. They are looking for each other and all seem to be looking to make the extra pass to a teammate who is more open. The two big girls Brantley and Wright particularly do this with incredible results. They are making it almost impossible to stop them inside as they both hammer the offensive and defensive glass with equal ferocity. I think that Marion has something, in those two girls that no one else has an answer for. You may slow one of them from either scoring or rebounding but you will not be able to stop either from hanging a big number on you in one of those categories on any given night. I think that is the key to beating them and so far only two teams have figured that out and or have been able to do it this year.

The first day of practice this year I was watching the girls scrimmage. I said to Head Coach Leon Sturkey, are you planning to bring any of the youngsters up this year? At that moment a smallish whimsical figure streaked down the length of the floor and dished to an open cutter for a bucket. I looked at the coach and said “Whoa. Who is that? He says that is Miss Tyshanna Lester and we will more than likely bring her up. Forget the fact that the young lady was just a month or so into her eighth grade year at Johnakin Middle School. No matter, that was all I needed to see and it appeared the coach had seen all he needed to see as well.

That decision has gone a long way in putting the Lady Swamp Foxes in the driver’s seat to cut down the nets for a second straight time on Saturday. By all accounts the youngster has been brilliant and on many occasions even spectacular. She has shown no fear while displaying a skill level that I have not seen since a young lady name Ashley Jackson first stepped on the floor as an eighth grader way back when. Jackson is the only player in recent memory that I can compare with Lester. She as an uncanny ability to handle the ball with stealth court awareness, which allows her to find open players off the dribble. Saturday she followed up a sensational performance against Timberland with a stretch where she was the catalyst for a number of buckets for her team. One of the most important aspects of her game is on the defensive end where she flat out ups the defensive ante of for unsuspecting ball handlers. You could say that when she came in the game she changed the whole complexion of what Marion was doing on the floor. She can play for real. Last week after Mullins basketball assistant coach Jimmie Vereen watched her play, he was at a loss for words in describing her. He also thought that she is one of the best he has ever seen especially given her youth. I see no reason why this secret weapon won’t be the difference come Saturday.

To all of you out there let’s not minimize the need for your support this Saturday. You know from last year that sometimes these kids might need just that little something extra that you have to get them over. Be there and let’s see if we can help these girls make history. Go Foxes!