Hot shooting lifts Lexington past River Bluff, into top of region standings
Lexington couldn’t put River Bluff away with a big run in the first half but the second half was a different story.
The Wildcats used their outside shooting at end of the third and early in the fourth to defeat the Gators, 68-52 and take over first place in Region 5-5A. With the win, Lexington extends its best start in school history at 22-0 and is 4-0 in the region at the halfway point in the conference schedule.
The two teams meet again at River Bluff on Feb. 7 in the final game of the regular season.
“I told them in practice yesterday, we weren’t going to win the region today and we weren’t going to lose the region today,” Lexington coach Bailey Harris said. “There is a gauntlet we’ve got to go through and we’ve got to go on the road for three of the last four.”
Mason Carver led Lexington with 24 points, while Will Edwards had 16 and Jonathan Corley added 12. Carver also had 12 rebounds, six assists and five steals.
Carver scored 15 points in the first half as Lexington outscored River Bluff 15-5 in the second quarter to take a 29-13 lead at halftime in front of a packed Wildcat Gymnasium.
But the Gators came out inspired the second half. Booker Cussac energized the River Bluff student section with a dunk down the center of the lane. Andrew Robinson followed with a 3-pointer moments later as the Gators cut the lead to 35-34 with 2:12 left in the third.
River Bluff never could take the lead and Lexington took back the momentum near the end of the quarter. Bradley Foulks hit a 3-pointer and Corley scored on a layup to end the third as Lexington led 43-37.
Edwards started the fourth with a pair of 3-pointers as the Wildcats put the game away. He scored 13 of his 16 in the fourth quarter. Lexington hit 8-of-12 3-pointers in the second half, including four in the fourth quarter and finished with 10 3-pointers for the game.
“I told them not to panic but we didn’t change up a whole lot,” Harris said of the run in the second half. “We wanted them to be patient and made sure we were getting the right shot, … keep shooting threes but the ones we want instead of the quick ones. I thought patience and the extra pass and Edwards and Corley knocked down four of five on the first seven possessions in the fourth.”
“They are 22-0 for a reason,” said River Bluff coach Ben Lee, a Lexington grad. “Coach Harris has an unreal number of wins. I played for him, coached with him. You come down and make that run to get it close, you knew they weren’t going to fold.
“We talked about being more of a team and we got away from that while making that run. Whenever you do that, they capitalize.”
Lexington also went 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in the fourth.
JT Reeves led River Bluff (17-3, 3-1) with 17 points and Robinson had 16. The loss snapped the Gators’ seven-game winning streak. A win would have given River Bluff the most wins in school history.
The Gators will try again Friday in a non-region game against Camden.
In the girls’ game, South Carolina commit Olivia Thompson poured in 24 points in front of Gamecock coach Dawn Staley, who was in attendance, as the Wildcats defeated the Gators, 78-30.
RB: Windom 3, Trottier 1, Spencer 8, Cussac 4, JT Reeves 17, Allen Robinson 16, M. Reeves 3. L: Mason Carver 24, Foulks 8, Will Edwards 16, Allen 1, Long 7, Jonathan Corley 12
Girls Basketball
Lexington 78, River Bluff 30
RB: Perry 6, Fallen 7, Heldreth 2, Overbay 3, Dumm 1, Rozier 6, Marren 5. L: Olivia Thompson 24, Brooke Foulks 15, Claire Tarlton 12, Bouknight 2, Sexton 5, D. Monroe 8, Nichols 2, C. Monroe 5, Kumiyama 5.
This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 11:11 PM.