BLADENBORO — Trinity Strickland sparked a 9-2 South Columbus spurt that carried the Lady Stallions to a 40-37 victory over West Bladen in the opening round of the Southeastern 3A/4A/5A Conference Girls’ Basketball Tournament.
West Bladen (5-17), the tourney’s No. 4 seed, will wait for Saturday’s announcement of the NCHSAA playoff pairings to see if their season will continue. No. 5 seed South Columbus (5-17) will travel to top-seeded Fairmont on Wednesday.
Master sports schedule | Standings
West sophomore Amiya McCarty beat the South press for a lay-up and a 3-point play that whittled the Lady Stallion lead to 25-24 with 2:17 left in the 3rd period.
A pair of Makayla Moore free throws and an Addison Faulk 14-footer plus a trio of Strickland free throws and a lay-up stretched the lead to 34-26. McCarty stole the ball and raced for a lay-up for West.
Freshman Haley Taylor converted a McCarty assist into a lay-in to start the 4th period. Freshman Logan Powers drained a 3-pointer, and Taylor cashed in a free throw to pull West within 35-32 with 5:12 on the clock.
Lay-ups by Brianna Price and Bristol Parker widened the gap to 39-32, but senior Natalee Sykes sank a free throw, and McCarty darted through the South press for two lay-ups that sliced the lead to 39-37 with 22 seconds left. DeAisa Johnson’s free throw at the 12 second mark padded the final margin.
Strickland led South with 11 points. Moore and Johnson netted seven points each. The Stallions won the game at the foul line, making 12 of 23 free throws while West connected on three of its seven attempts.
Sykes keyed the Knights attack with 11 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists. McCarty finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Taylor contributed nine points and six rebounds.
Powers racked up seven points, six rebounds and five steals. Junior Saniya Martin grabbed nine rebounds, and senior Kali Allen had six rebounds and two steals.
West blitzed the visitors with an early 12-1 run. Taylor banged in a follow shot, Sykes stole the ball and dashed for a lay-up then nailed a corner jumper followed by a 3-ball. McCarty buried a 3-ball, before South’s Johnson trimmed the margin to 12-3 with a lay-up.
South answered with a 16-6 spurt led by Strickland and Johnson to edge ahead 19-18 at halftime. Sykes delivered assists to Powers and Taylor for West lay-ups, and Taylor scored again on a rebound basket.
McCarty bombed in a 3-ball to begin the 2nd half and give the Lady Knights their final lead at 21-19.
SOUTH COLUMBUS (40) — Addison Faulk 2, Naashza Goodson, Makayla Moore 7, Trinity Strickland 11, Bristol Parker 2, Morgan Boyd 6, DeAisa Johnson 7, Brianna Price 3, Aaliyah Bellamy 2, Haley Morrall.
WEST BLADEN (37) — Amiya McCarty 10, Haley Taylor 9, Saniya Martin, Logan Powers 7, Harmony Richardson, Kali Allen, Natalee Sykes 11, Lauryn Lesane, Abigail Dicicco.
Leave a Reply