Where girls’ basketball was concerned on Friday night at Laurens Academy, it was a jubilee.
Head coach Jason Marlett was honored for winning 200 games at the helm of the Crusaders, who crushed Wardlaw, 55-16. Near the end of the third quarter, LA’s Olivia Huck scored her 1,500th point, 21 of which swished the nets against the Patriots.
The boys played hard but in vain as Wardlaw won, 74-62.
There’s no truth to the rumor that when Huck joined the Crusade, Richard the Lionhearted was the head coach. Marlett nurtured her skills, beginning when Huck was in middle school. She is a persistent, practiced and skilled player, averaging 20 points, 8.3 points and 2.5 assists with shooting percentages of .440 from the field and .746 from the free-throw line.
It wasn’t game that went back and forth. It just went forth. Laurens Academy (16-1, 8-0 SCISA Region 1-A) led at halftime, 33-2.
As the numbers suggest, Wardlaw (according to MaxPreps, 2-6, 3-3) was not stocked with sharpshooters. Katharine Trotter led the Pats, who connected on 7/35 (,200) shots as a team, with six points. She hit 3/6. Wardlaw cashed in but 1/10 foul shots.
LA had 36 rebounds to Wardlaw’s 26, 11 assists to the Pats’ three, and forced 21 turnovers to the Knights’ five.
Huck, of course, scored more points than the entire Wardlaw team. She hit 3/7 shots for two and 3/5 tries for three. She buried all six of her free throws.
Hannah Ervin (11) and Rylee Ballard (10) also combined for 21. Also scoring were Sadie Bruyere (3), Emily Suttles (3) and E.K. Moore (2). LA shot .429 (21/49) from the field and .643 (9/14) from the line.
It was a romp.
Twenty-two turnovers plagued the Laurens Academy boys, who were outscored 21-11 in the fourth quarter, during which the Crusaders connected on 4/13 shots while the Patriots were hitting 7/11.
Trailing by three points, LA committed three turnovers in the first minute of the final quarter.
Reese Harper led Wardlaw with 19 points. He hit four of the Pats’ nine triples while hitting 5/17 field-goal attempts and 5/8 free throws. Colt Bailey added 14, Nick Harper 13 and Matthew Murphy 11.
The Patriots, as a team, hit 24/65 field-goal attempts (.369) and 13/17 free throws (.765). By forcing Laurens Academy (9-12, 6-5) to commit 22 turnovers, Wardlaw overcame a 51-30 deficit in rebounding. Nine triples reduced the necessity of assists: the Crusaders had 11 to the Patriots’ three.
One reason so many rebounds were caroming around is that the team combined to miss 86 shots. Garrison Vaughn led the Crusaders with 16 points, Jared Willard put up 15 and Braydon Burke chipped in all, but the trio combined to hit 18/54 (.333) shots. As a team, LA shot .328 (22/67) from the field and .429 (6/14) from the line.
Clinton took sole control of first place in the Region 4-3A girls’ basketball race with a 41-27 victory at Emerald.
Mylayja Thompson led the Red Devils with 13 points, nine of them in the first quarter when Clinton (14-5, 4-0 region) took a 14-3 lead. Ryonna Talbert led the Vikings with 11.
Also scoring for the Red Devils were Zakalia Redd (8), Kemaria Shelton (6), Ry’Daijia Mars (5), Bryanna Belton (4), Nah’shia Wright (2) and Saniya White (1).
The Clinton boys (10-7, 4-0) are in the same driver’s seat, having disposed of the Vikings, 65-44.
The Thornwell boys (0-9) are getting better. Ware Shoals’ Jayce Medlin scored the 17 points that made the difference in the Hornets’ 39-22 win over the Saints.
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