BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood girls kept it close against Irmo Tuesday night, but came up short in the final stretch.
The Bengals came within seven points of pulling even with the Yellow Jackets with three minutes left. Blythewood had several opportunities and several looks to the basket, but was hesitant with shooting and fell 46-37.
“By far this has been our best game,” Blythewood head coach Steve Inabinet said. “The effort that we need to be successful, they showed it and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The Bengals (0-6) got off to a slow start, with Irmo jumping to an 8-1 lead in the first four minutes. The Bengals pulled to within 21-7 though, and Alexis Mims scored six points in the final minute to give Blythewood a 13-12 lead.
That was the only point at which the Bengals led the Yellow Jackets. Se’Niya Brooks opened the second quarter with at 3-pointer and Irmo took a 26-20 lead at the half.
Irmo stretched that lead to 39-30 by the end of the third quarter.
“At the end we made a few decisions that didn’t help us,” Inabinet said. “We were down but we were coming back, but in the end we faltered.”
Alexis Mims led Blythewood with 14 points. Kiki Jackson had 13 points.
The game went in the loss column, but Inabinet said the team has improved since the beginning of the season.
“We’re just trying to get them to understand shot selection, basically,” Inabinet said. “They’re getting better at it.”
Blythewood plays at River Bluff Friday.
Irmo – 12 – 14 – 13 – 7 – 46
Blythewood – 13 – 7 – 10 – 7 – 37
Irmo: Ehrial Wagstaff 11, Madison Dopico 10, Lovett 9, Taylor 6, Brooks 5, Hampton 5.
Blythewood: Kiki Jackson 13, Alexis Mims 14, M. Weeks 5, Nichols 3, L. Weeks 2.
