Lauren Harley cruises in for the layup. (Photo/Kristy Kimball Massey)
BLYTHEWOOD (Feb. 3, 2016) – Game-opening 3-pointers from Spring Valley’s Christian Hithe and Dominique Hill set the tone for the Vikings Tuesday night.
The Blythewood girls’ basketball team didn’t get a basket against their Region IV-4A rivals until the 4:40 mark, when Lauren Harley finally made it to the rim.
By that time Spring Valley was up 12-0, and continued to pour it on the Lady Bengals in a 75-33 victory at Blythewood.
“They just wore us out,” Blythewood head coach Steve Inabinet said. “At certain points we played like we had wanted to play. We did good in a few places, but we’ve got to be consistent.”
Harley led the way for the Lady Bengals (4-14, 1-4) with 19 points, six rebounds and five steals.
“Lauren’s a good player,” Spring Valley head coach Anne Long said. “We let her go a few times, but hopefully we can remedy that.”
In the end, the Lady Vikings were just too much for Harley and the rest of the team to handle.
Spring Valley kept up a full-court press and played lights-out defense under the net to cruise to a 31-7 lead after the first quarter, and a 45-16 advantage by the half.
“They play to get you out of your game, and in the first quarter that’s what they did,” Inabinet said. “They wear you down, wear you down, press, press, press, press, press. They get a lead, they’ll relax for a while, then they go out and press you again.”
Four Lady Vikings scored in double figures. Hithe led all scorers with 21, Shantay Taylor had 17 points and 12 rebounds, Anaja Matthews had 11 points and Hill added 10.
Spring Valley outrebounded Blythewood 37-21 and made 16 steals.
“At this point I’m pretty pleased with the effort,” Long said. “You’re feeling the end of the season now, and you’re trying to win a region championship and get a better seed in the playoffs. You feel it. You want the energy, the crispness and the execution.”
Spring Valley (19-2, 6-1) plays at Ridge View, which handed the Lady Vikings their only region loss, a 50-41 defeat Jan. 14.
Blythewood, which fell 46-34 last Friday at Dutch Fork, plays at Lugoff-Elgin Friday.
Spring Valley 75, Blythewood 33
SVHS: 31-14-14-16 – 75
BHS: 7-9-11-6 – 33
S –Chrisitan Hithe 21, Shantay Taylor 17, Anaja Matthews 11, Dominique Hill 10, Graham 5, Jones 4, Wall 3, Martinez 2, Lewis 2. B –Lauren Harley 19, Mims 5, Rikard 4, Greene 2, Jackson 2, Lott 1. REC: Spring Valley 19-2, 6-1, Blythewood 4-14, 1-4.
