Goose Creek girls eliminate Lexington again in postseason
Lexington coach Molly Goodrich knew it would take one of the Wildcats’ better efforts to overcome perennial power Goose Creek in the Class 5A Lower State championship game on Saturday at the Florence Center.
Olivia Thompson closed out her decorated career with 18 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Gators rolled to a 43-28 victory to end the Wildcats’ best season since 1979.
It’s the third consecutive season Lexington had its season end at the hands of Goose Creek. The last two years, the loss came in the second round by scores of 68-29 and 60-35, respectively. This year, it was one step from a state championship game appearance.
“This season was a blast,” Goodrich said. “I had a lot of fun. The girls accomplished a lot and should be very proud of themselves. We just didn’t get it done this game. We had a good defensive game plan and held them to 43 points, but we didn’t take care of the offensive end.”
Goose Creek (22-1) will play Spring Valley, a 58-42 winner over Sumter, in the 5A state championship Friday at 7 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena. The Vikings eliminated the Gators with a 55-53 victory last year in the Lower State championship. This will be Goose Creek’s fifth trip to the finals since 2010.
“We felt like we left some on the floor last year as far as letting one slip away,” Goose Creek coach Tim Baldwin said. “We talked at the beginning of the year that we had some unfinished business with seven seniors coming back and we kept reminding them of that all along.”
Lexington (24-5) trailed 10-8 after the first quarter but the Gators used a dominant second period to take control. Kolia Adams scored all five of her points in that stretch and Goose Creek turned a two-point lead into a 12-point cushion, 24-12, at the half. Thompson was the only player to score for the Wildcats in that eight-minute stretch.
That was the focal point, according to Baldwin.
“(Thompson’s) a very good shooter and the shots she made tonight she had to work very hard,” he said. “We tried to make her work for her shots and then we wanted to limit what the rest of the team would be able to do.”
Thompson, who will play at South Carolina next season, ended up with four 3-pointers but the Wildcats couldn’t make a run to get it back to single digits in the second half.
“They’re good at helping the help (on defense),” Goodrich said. “They really focused on Olivia as well and they’re such a big team, we had a hard time getting second or third shots.”
GC – Aniya Oliver 15, Ciera Shivers 10, Nelson 9, Adams 5, Saylor 3, Davis 1. L – Olivia Thompson 18, Nichols 4, Foulks 4, Tarlton 2.