Cardinal Newman holds on to beat Wilson Hall 47-45 in SCISA AAAA first-round playoff game
Lady Barons rally from 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit only to see Cardinals prevail
Sumter – With 6:55 remaining in its first-round game against Wilson Hall in the SCISA AAAA state playoffs, Cardinal Newman was holding a 43-26 lead after a fast break layup by Teonna Draughn. Done and done for the Cardinals advancing, right?
Well, yes, but only after a huge rally for the Lady Barons. They rallied to tie the game with 1:19 left, but CN managed to pull out a 47-45 triumph on Friday at Sumter Civic Center.
Cardinal Newman, which is 7-15 on the season, will face lower bracket No. 1 seed Northwood Academy in the quarterfinals on Monday at a site and time to be determined.
“That's all that counts,” Cardinal Newman head coach Coral Jackson said of coming up with the victory. “We fouled a little bit too much in the second half. We persevered through some tough calls, but that's how it is sometimes. We'll take it any way we can. We're just happy to be on to the next game."
Wilson Hall finished the year with a 12-10 record.
The Cardinals led 22-16 at halftime, but WH kept it close for the better p0art of the third quarter. It trailed just 27-24 before CN went on an 11-0 run in just over two minutes.
Junior Ayana Reyes’ hit a 3-point shot before Draughn converted a 3-point play. Draughn got out on a fast break for a layup and converted another 3-point play with 39 seconds left in the the quarter. Two free throws from Wilson Hall’s Aubrey Payne broke the streak and made it 38-26 entering the final stanza.
Cardinal Newman scored the first five points of the quarter in the first minute and the win appeared to be signed, sealed and delivered. The Lady Barons had other ideas.
Senior Maggie Norris got free for a layup before senior Marybeth Van Patten hit a free for a layup. Norris hit another layup, Junior Logan Mims hit a free throw and a basket, and senior Sullivan Jarecki hit two free thirows and followed it with a jump shot in the lane to make it 43-38 with 4:23 still to go in the game.
Mims hit a followup with 2;45 remaining to cut the deficit to three. However, Draughn scored 12 seconds later to push the lead back to five. The scoring slowed considerably the rest of the way. Mims hit two free throws, Van Patten added another and Payne hit two more to tie the game at 45-45 with 1:19 left.
“The comeback was absolutely incredible,” said Wilson Hall head coach Glen Rector. “One of our key words this year has been courage, and the girls showed a tremendous amount of courage in coming back. They fought so hard.
“More than anything else I think it was the heart of the young ladies. We were in transition a little bit more, we were scoring open layups a little bit more. Defensively, they were just incredible, the heart they played with defensively”
The Lady Barons had a chance to take the lead, and Norris made a beautiful spin move to the basket in the low post. Her left-handed layup spun around the rim and went out.
Sophomore Kristin Moye hit one of two free throws with 36 seconds left to give the Cardinals a 1-point lead. Junior Katie Wilkinson did the same with 18 seconds to go to make it 47-45. Wilson Hall had a final possession to tie the game, but Cardinal Newman’s 6-foot-2-inch Zaria Thompson stepped in the passing lane for a steal and ran out the clock.
Draughn led Cardinal Newman in scoring with 22 points. Thompson had nine, while Moye had eight and Reyes’ had five.
Payne led Wilson Hall with 14 points.. Mims finished with 10, while Norris had eight, and Jarecki had five.
“After three losing seasons in a row, the young ladies were committed to developing a winning culture,” Rector said of his team, which had six seniors. “From Day 1 we talked about trying to have a winning season. To have a winning season was just a thrill for these young ladies
About us
Recognizing the achievements of young athletes in South Carolina since 1986.