BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood girls basketball team missed out on their first win of the season by about four minutes Friday night.
Lancaster, a team that smoked the Bengals 56-14 at Lancaster Dec. 10, had to make a late scoring run to overtake Blythewood and then close out a 40-34 victory.
“By far this is the best effort that we have had all year,” head coach Steve Inabinet said. “We’ve been working hard in practice trying to convince them that this is what it takes to win some game.”
The Bengals (0-8) led 32-32 with 2:03 left in the game, but Lancaster’s Logan Truesdale came up with a 3-pointer with 1:24 to go to make it 34-32.
Velincia Victrum tied it up with a basket at the 1:05 mark, but Jalayah Cunningham scored baskets in the final minute and NyKeriasia Coleman got a steal and a layup to seal the win for the Bruins.
“They’ve improved quite a bit,” Inabinet said. “I saw a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Everybody went in and played hard. It’s just some simple mistakes that we can fix. I’m proud of them. They did a good job.”
Victrum scored 10 points to lead the Bengals, and Coleman was the high scorer for Lancaster with just 12 points.
While Blythewood still struggles at shooting, the team played a solid defensive game, limiting the 6-2 Bruins to single digits through three quarters. The Bengals got off to a 7-0 run to start the game, closed out the half with a 19-15 lead, and led 25-21 to start the fourth quarter.
Blythewood played in its first holiday tournament in several years, a tournament at Rock Hill High School. The Bengals took on West Charlotte Tuesday and will play through today.
“It’s been a while,” Inabinet said. “We hope to see them use this as a stepping stone. Hopefully they’ll realize their potential. If they play hard, good things will happen.”
Lancaster – 7-8-6-19 — 40
Blythewood – 9-10-6-9 — 34
Lancaster – Nykeriasia Coleman 12, Lo. Truesdale 9, Cunningham 8, Peay 6, La. Truesdale 5.
Blythewood – Velincia Victrum 10, Brown 8, Ellington 7, Fluker 5, Young 2, Green 2.
