WINNSBORO – The Fairfield Central Lady Griffins’ playoff journey came to a crashing halt Thursday night against the Walhalla Razorbacks. Central kept the game tight most of the game, but they could never find a consistent offensive rhythm en route to a 40-46 loss.
Zariah Rice (12) tries to work through the double team. | DeAnna Robinson
“I definitely felt like we had a chance to win it,” Griffins’ head coach Amelia Miller said. “We didn’t rebound well at all. We played good in spurts, but we missed too many layups tonight, the simple things to help you win a game we didn’t do tonight.”
Cristin Gray had seven of her nine points in the first quarter, and the teams flip flopped the lead several times in the first, but Walhalla led 14-12 at the end of one. Rachel Twitty was one of five Razorbacks to get on the scoresheet, including every starter.
The Razorbacks held the lead most of the quarter, but it never ballooned past four points, and Griffins’ senior Tameshia Woodard trimmed that lead down to one with a buzzer-beating, half-court heave that splashed the bottom of the net. Walhalla was up 22-21 at the half.
After halftime, the teams kept trading buckets back and forth until things were knotted up at 26. Then the Razorbacks went on a 7-1 run to go up 33-27. However, that lead was quickly trimmed back down by the Griffins, and they trailed by four heading into the final quarter.
Lakeyn Boyd gave the Griffins a 38-37 lead after Gray helped them get within striking distance with an old-fashioned three-point play. Walhalla hit a clutch three pointer with less than four minutes and the Griffins never got the lead back. They finished the game on a 9-0 run to put a bow on the 46-40 lead.
“They work hard,” Miller said. “It’s a resilient group that we have and you know we’re just going to work over the summer and the offseason and just get better. My young girls have really improved, I watched from day one to now and I see a difference. I see progress, so we’re looking forward to a great season next year.”
WHS – 14-8-13-11 – 46
FCHS – 12-9-10-9 – 40
WHS – Elizabeth White – 13, Rachel Twitty – 12, Madison MacLachlan – 9, Madison Briley – 7.
FCHS – Lakeyn Boyd – 12, Cristin Gray – 9, Zariah Rice – 8, Tameshia Woodard – 5,Deasia Feaster – 4 Tahalia Collier – 2.