Two in a row. Lexington girls overcome season’s slow start to win another region title.

The Lexington girls basketball team knew what it was up against. The Wildcats stormed to the lower state finals last season, but seven seniors from that team were missing.

After a slow start, Lexington closed the season by winning seven in row. The latest was a 62-37 dismantling of River Bluff on Thursday night to claim the Region 5-5A championship for the second straight season.

“This one is probably the best feelings one because a lot of people doubted us,” Lexington coach Molly Goodrich said. “We struggled at the beginning of the season, but we improved so much. This team worked so hard this season. We set high goals to be region champs. They worked so hard to achieve it. I’m so very proud of them.”

Mallory Nichols is the only returning player that played meaningful minutes last season and she had to help a young team grow up quick.

The top six players include two freshmen, two sophomores, a junior and Nichols.

“They’ve had to get out there in difficult situations and they have no choice but to grow up,” Goodrich said. “It kind of helps them because they don’t have somebody to come in and do it for them. They’ve had to grow up.”

Freshman Alexis Sexton led the Gators (15-9, 6-2) with 20 points. She connected on four 3-pointers in the first half and had 14 points to give Lexington a 25-23 lead at the break.

But Nichols was the catalyst for the second-half surge. She scored six points and had an assist that started a 10-2 spurt out of the locker room. Jenna Yanity added seven of her 14 points in the third quarter that helped the Wildcats extend their lead to 42-30.

“We always say put the nail in the coffin,” Nichols said. “We had them there, we just had to nail them in there. Our defense got a lot of steals and put backs.”

Turning point

Lexington opened region play with a 44-43 loss to White Knoll on January 14. It’s been almost a month since the Wildcats have lost. Goodrich said that loss was a learning experience for the players and they’ve held each other accountable since then.

“After that game, we said what are we going to do to become a better team,” Goodrich said. “We haven’t missed a morning shootaround since then. They hold each other accountable because of that game. Honestly, that game made us so much of a better team. Sometimes losses don’t feel well but it helped us out as a program.”

Playoff road

By earning the No. 1 seed from the region, Lexington has home court advantage until the lower state championship in Florence. That’s a huge accomplishment for a team that entered region play 8-7.

Lexington will play an at-large team in the first round on Tuesday.

Turnaround

Despite coming up short in the regular season finale, the turnaround by River Bluff has been remarkable.

A season ago, the Gators won one game before coming one game from winning the region title. They only have two seniors on the roster and could be a factor in years to come.

River Bluff will host the third-place finisher from Region 8-5A on Tuesday.

Girls Basketball

Lexington 62, River Bluff 37

RB – Samira Khalil 13, Wilson 9, Rozier 6, Bell 4, Perry 3, Marren 2. L – Alexis Sexton 20, Jenna Yanity 14, Nichols 8, Garner 8, Austin 6, Hilton 4, Crouch 2.

Boys Basketball

River Bluff 50, Lexington 48

RB – Josh Cranshaw 14, Tae’Jon Myers 11, Stills 9, Jenkins 8, Renner 3, Powell 3, Haig 2. L – Cam Scott 15, Daniels 8, Allen 8, Bouknight 7, Rivers 4, Davis 4, Reed 2

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 10:30 PM.