Turnovers turn the tide for Darlington girls
A Crestwood player is too little, too late in blocking a shot from the Darlington Lady Falcons during the game Feb. 7.
Photo by Drake Horton
By Drake Horton, Contributing Writer
The Darlington Lady Falcons dropped its last home game of the year February 7, losing 51-31 to the Crestwood Lady Knights.
While Crestwood dominated the game, it was Darlington who was its own worst enemy, turning the ball over countless times, thus giving a very talented Lady Knights team more possessions than what they ever needed.
“First off Crestwood is a very good team, a very good coached team,” Darlington girls head coach Brad Knox said after the game. “We have to eliminate our turnovers to help us fulfill what we want to do in the playoffs. We have to play stronger, we have to play smarter and we have to play together.”
If the turnover problem was not enough for Darlington, the long scoring droughts were destined to doom the Lady Falcons. In both the first and third quarter Crestwood put together 14-0 runs, taking what had the look of being a close game and stretching it out to a borderline blowout status.
“All season we’ve had trouble scoring,” Knox said. “We try to go inside to our bigs, but we have to be able to finish inside when we go inside.”
Before the first Crestwood run, the Falcons were up 4-0 and in the third quarter Darlington trailed by just seven, 25-18 before the Lady Knights put the game out of reach for good.
“I thought we had a chance when we cut the lead back to 11, but at the same time we have to keep competing,” Knox said. “That’s what it’s all about; competing till the last ending.”
The loss had no effect on the season as the Lady Falcons are locked into third place in the region and guaranteed a playoff spot. If anything, a game like this can possibly help open some eyes and generate a needed focus for the playoffs.
“We are going to get back to work tomorrow,” Knox said. “We are going to work on rebounding, work on feeding the post, work on finishing our game.”
Weekly Recap
Darlington played a makeup game against the Lakewood Lady Gators. The Lady Falcons finished the regular season with some much need momentum, winning the contest 47-40 in Sumter.
Playoff Preview
The Lady Falcons started their opening round of the playoffs on February 14 on the road against the Berkeley Lady Stags.
The winner of that game will face the winner of the Myrtle Beach vs Dreher game on February 17.