Miscues and big runs sink Darlington against Hartsville
By Drake Horton, Contributing Writer
Two big runs in the first half, along with multiple missed opportunities led to the Darlington Lady Falcons dropping its second contest of the year against the Hartsville Lady Red Foxes by a score of 63-50 this past Saturday at home.
“I prepared the young ladies all week,” Darlington girls head coach Brad Knox said after the game. “I’m proud of my girls on how they fought till the end. We just have to keep getting better, getting back on defense and rebound more on the glass.”
Darlington was strong against Hartsville in the low post as Hope Richardson and LaDaysha Bonaparte dominated for a combined 26 of 50 points scored by the Lady Falcons.
Unfortunately, that was about all of the offense the Lady Falcons had against Hartsville as they received very little support from their guards. Richardson scored 14 as Bonaparte had 12.
But while the forwards led the team in scoring they had their problems as well as both the guards and forwards missed way too many layups and other easy scoring opportunities.
“We have to finish those, they are key baskets that we got to have going forward,” Knox said. “We will learn from this and we will keep working every day.”
Darlington started the game off with hardly any emotion and was in a quick 10-2 hole before finishing the first quarter down only 15-9.
The Lady Falcons used that momentum and cut the lead to 18-15 before Hartsville went on a 12-1 run stretching the Lady Red Foxes lead to 10 points at the half.
Hartsville picked right up where it left off in the third quarter, scoring the first five points and the lead basically held there with the Lady Red Foxes up 17 going into the fourth.
Darlington went on a 10-0 run in the final 1:30, but it was too little, too late as Hartsville was too far ahead. The Lady Red Foxes scored the final four points of the game.
While the loss hurts, Darlington is still in the playoffs as it heads into the final week of the season.
“Right now we are in third place, locked in for right now,” Knox said. “We just have to keep playing.”
Weekly Recap
The Lady Falcons won its other game of the week, defeating Lugoff-Elgin on the road this past Tuesday, January 31.