Columbia Star

1963        Celebrating 60 Years      2023

Vikings down Rams in round two




It took a few minutes for the offense to get going—till Dominique Hill dropped a three at the 5:20 mark in the first quarter— but the defense came to play from the opening tip, and the result was a 56-40 win by the Spring Valley Lady Vikings over the Westside Lady Rams in a second round girls’ Class 4A basketball playoff game at Spring Valley Friday night, February 19.

The scoring then came in bunches in the first half, as the Vikings rolled up a 16-3 first quarter lead. Spring Valley (now 24-2) overall) forced the Rams into 11 first half turnovers on the way to a 37-13 lead. Westside got its first field goal at 6:45 in the second quarter when a jumper from Britney Mattress brought the Rams to the short end of a 23-5 deficit.

Alexis Scott finished with 13 points for the Rams, while Mattress added 12. The Rams, under coach Jackie Roberts, finished their year with an 18-8 mark.

The Vikings led by as many as 28 in the first half, as the early game intensity of Coach Anne Long’s hardcourt quintet continues to pay dividends.

“We were able to play from end-to-end in the first half,” Long said. “In the second half, when we got the lead, we got into more of a half court offense. I wanted to get our press going a little bit more, but we have to do some tweaks with that first. So, we were not scoring quite so much in the second half.”

Senior guard Christian Hithe went 0-for-the-first quarter before catching fire in the second with 12 points on the way to a game-high 22. Senior center Shantay Taylor controlled the paint for the Vikings while adding 14 points.

Hithe admitted it was an early struggle.

“We couldn’t make a basket,” Hithe said. “Toward the end of the first quarter, we got to playing the Spring Valley way. I looked up there later in the second half, and we were up by 20, and I said, ‘OK, now we are rolling.’”

As the Vikings head to the next round of the playoffs, Long pronounced herself pleased with her team’s work.

“I thought our perimeter shooting was good,” Long said. “I thought Taylor was good in there. Christian got off to a slow start, but the other players helped out. Matthews hit an early three, and Hill had a three. We still have some things to work on to get back to the way we play. A few things out of character for us in the second half, but we will get it back in there.”

Spring Valley (56): Christian Hithe 22, Shantay Taylor 14, Dominique Hill 8, Anaja Matthews 6, Joi Jones 4, Taylor Lewis 2

Westside Rams (40): Alexis Scott 13, Britney Mattress 12, Sayler Schuster 8, Zyria Gay 4, Chelsea Adger 2, Malezja Acker 1.

The Lady Vikings traveled to Spartanburg February 22 and crushed Dorman 95-46 to earn a trip to the Upper State Championship against Rock Hill at Bon Secours in Greenville on February 27.



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