High School Basketball in Fort Mill

By John Turner

Correspondent

COLUMBIA – The Fort Mill girls basketball team took their second trip to Spring Valley in as many weeks Wednesday night, but this time it was in the first round of the 2023 5A playoffs.

Fort Mill was matched up against the Vikings due to the Yellow Jackets earning the at-large bid while the Vikings earned the No.1 seed due to winning Region 3-5A. The first two encounters were won by the Vikings although each game had its moments where one could argue it could have gone the Yellow Jackets way. On Wednesday, the Vikings won 64-47 to end the Fort Mill season.

With so much on the line, it was no surprise that both teams came out of the locker room firing. Lydia Laney scored five quick points which gave Fort Mill a 7-4 lead three minutes in. Spring Valley began to clean up the glass getting three, four and sometimes five cracks at the hoop. At the same time, Spring Valley head coach Kim Assey cranked up the infamous full court press that the Vikings are known for which earned the Vikings a 10-9 lead with 4:38 to go first quarter. 

Spring Valley began to pull away thanks to Lauren Crosland who scored 12 points in the stanza. Fort Mill refused to go away on this mild February evening making a nice run to cut into the lead making it 20-17 Vikings at the end of one. 

The second quarter began much the same way the first period ended as Spring Valley continued to press and rebound at a very intense level. When the Yellow Jackets were able to break the press, it ended in a pretty good look at the rim which helped Fort Mill stay in the game. Both teams did cool off from the field as the game crept toward halftime. Neither side would ripple the net in the final two minutes giving Spring Valley a 36-26 lead. But that’s when the game took a turn for the worse for the Jackets.

Spring Valley came out of the locker room with a bit between their teeth ramping up the defensive pressure forcing Fort Mill into turnover after turnover.

Yellow Jackets head coach Nathan Wruble, in his first season at the helm, called timeouts in an attempt to make change things up but nothing seemed to work against a Vikings team who came into the game with an impressive 21-6 record overall and 9-1 in region play.

Like Crosland in the first quarter, it was Jai’Dah Liebert who caught fire scoring nine of her 14 points in the third frame which was more points than Fort Mill scored as a team. After three frames, things did not look good for Fort Mill as Spring Valley took a controlling 57-32 lead. 

Two quick baskets by Kate Marker and a 3-pointer from Clare Moore gave Fort Mill a glimmer of hope, but those hopes were dashed quickly as Spring Valley went on another run again on the back of Crosland and then held onto the ball to cruise to a win. Moore led the Jackets with 11 points. Laney, in her final game as a Yellow Jacket, scored eight.  Seniors Hannah Threadgill and Danielle Williams also picked up points in their final appearance for Fort Mill. 

Fort Mill finishes the 2022-2023 season with a 9-18 overall record.