Third quarter dooms Lexington girls in loss to Sumter

One eight-minute stretch will probably haunt Lexington girls basketball coach Molly Goodrich all offseason.

The Wildcats used a spectacular first half from senior Destinee Langford to build a nine-point lead, but a disastrous third quarter helped propel Sumter to a 45-40 victory Monday in the third round of Class 4A playoffs.

The Gamecocks scored the first 19 points of the third quarter, and held Lexington without a point until six seconds remained in the period. That turned a nine-point halftime deficit into a eight-point lead entering the final quarter.

“They caught fire,” Goodrich said. “Their emotion and energy totally took over. We dug ourselves a hole, but still had a chance to come out of it. We missed a few layups, a few free throws and had several 3-pointers that just didn’t fall. We had every opportunity to win this game despite that third quarter.”

Lexington (18-8) had won 10 of 11 entering the contest, and looked poised to advance after a solid first half. Langford scored 18 of her 22 points in the first half with three 3-pointers. Olivia Thompson added another one from long range in the final seconds of the half to give the Wildcats a 23-14 lead.

Sumter (24-4) could do very little right in the opening two quarters. The Gamecocks finished the first half 6-for-31 from the field and 1-of-8 from the free-throw line with 11 turnovers.

Then the third quarter began.

Kyra Wilson scored six points in a little over a minute to start things off. Cy Cooper added eight points in the quarter as Sumter went 9-of-14 from the field. They limited Lexington to 1-of-10 from the field with 10 turnovers to hand the Gamecocks a 35-27 lead entering the final quarter.

“We did everything you’re supposed to do to lose a big game,” Sumter coach Jason Loudenslager said. “We didn’t make free throws, we didn’t box out on the perimeter, we didn’t stay in front on defense and we missed a ton of layups. Somehow, we dug deep enough and put it on them in that third quarter. I think we took it from them right there.”

The Wildcats had one final charge in them, mainly because Sumter was abysmal from the free-throw line. The Gamecocks made four of their first 21 attempts, and that allowed Lexington to hang around. The Gamecocks finished 10-of-31 from the line.

Langford was held to four points in the second half, but her layup with 1:29 remaining got Lexington within 41-38. Taylor Foulks got a blocked shot on the Gamecocks next possession and Lexington’s attempted a three that could have tied it. The ball rolled around the rim and out and that was the last solid chance the Wildcats had.

The Gamecocks made 4-of-8 free throws in the final 1:03 to seal the win, while Lexington committed two turnovers and missed two shots in the final minute.

“They’re fighters,” Goodrich said of her team. “We usually strive in close games. We’ve had so many this this season but our shots just didn’t fall. It’s a disappointing loss. I thought we could go farther but we didn’t make enough shots. It just wasn’t our day to get the win.”

Loudenslager thought his team’s defense on Langford in the second half was key. Instead of going to a gimmick defense, they paid more attention to where she was on the floor.

“What we needed to do is understand the importance of following (Langford) when she’s making her cuts,” he said. “When she gave it up in the first half, we were turning our backs. We fixed that in the second half by keeping our eye on her. We made her job a little bit tougher.”

Sumter will play North Augusta in the Lower State finals on Saturday at the Florence Civic Center. The Yellow Jackets defeated Goose Creek 45-43.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Third quarter dooms Lexington girls in loss to Sumter."