Spring Valley girls rally past Goose Creek in 5A semifinals

For two-and-a-half quarters, things were looking bleak for the Spring Valley girls basketball team as they were trying to return to the state finals after missing a chance last year to defend the title they won in 2016.

But the Vikings never wavered in their belief and rallied for a 55-53 victory against Goose Creek in a matchup of the top two teams in the state in the Class 5A Lower State finals Saturday night at the Florence Civic Center.

“When we went in at halftime, they looked defeated,” Spring Valley coach Megan Assey said. “I made them look at me and told them we aren’t going to lose this game. The people who know the true story of our team and where we were a year ago and where we are now – it’s all about character, work ethic and heart. I think these young ladies proved they had it tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Spring Valley (27-2) will play Wade Hampton on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena for the 5A championship. The Vikings have won four state championships since 2009 and will be making their sixth trip to the finals since then.

Goose Creek (23-3) trailed after one quarter but led 28-22 at the half and 39-28 with 3:06 remaining in the third quarter when the Vikings began to climb back into it. The Vikings scored the final eight points of the third quarter to close within 39-36 entering the final eight minutes.

Destiny Coleman, who scored eight of her 11 points in the second half, stretched the run to 10-0 with a basket to open the fourth quarter. The Vikings finally tied it on a Lauryn Taylor offensive rebound with 6:10 remaining.

“We called some timeouts when we needed them to change our mental mindset,” Assey said. “They changed what they were thinking and made the adjustments.”

Ashley Williamson, a Clemson commit who led Spring Valley with 20 points, said the Vikings never felt they were out of it.

“We knew it wasn’t over yet,” Williamson said. “We had to keep playing hard. It came down to who wanted it more, and I think we have a lot of heart and we want to get this ring.”

Coleman gave the Vikings the lead for good with just under five minutes remaining when she hit a jumper from the lane. Goose Greek coach Tim Baldwin was whistled for a technical, and Williamson stretched the lead to 47-44 with 4:07 remaining when she made the two free throws.

Taylor Lewis and Kristian Wall each scored three points in the final 1:55 to limit the Gators’ chance of coming back. Goose Creek had a final chance to win or force overtime, but a half-court shot at the buzzer sailed over the backboard.

This story was originally published February 24, 2018 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Spring Valley girls rally past Goose Creek in 5A semifinals."