WINNSBORO – Fairfield Central’s girls’ basketball team stormed into the South Carolina High School League 2A state playoffs as an underdog.
With a 6-4 region record, the Griffins earned a four seed and faced an uphill climb from game one. After escaping No.2 Strom Thurmond 37-28 in the first round, the Griffins faced No.2 Cheraw on Feb. 20.
Points exchanged in opening quarter, the score was tied at 18 after a quarter at Cheraw. Fairfield inched ahead in the second quarter to take a 33-31 lead into halftime.
Cheraw took control following the half, outscoring Fairfield 22-17 to reclaim the lead 53-50 by the end of the third.
Fairfield charged through the fourth quarter with their highest offensive output – putting up 25 points and holding the Braves to only six points. They shut down the game with a 75-59 final and ended Cheraw’s playoff run.
With eight teams left in the state, Fairfield set their sights on a familiar foe: top-seeded Clinton High School. With two losses to Clinton in the regular-season (17 and 21-point losses), the Griffins faced a battle.
In the loser-goes-home game at Clinton on Tuesday, the Red Devils bested Fairfield by just 10 points to advance and end the Griffins’ playoff run just short of the Upper State title game on Saturday.
Senior Jazzlyn McMillan scored 18 of the Griffins’ 30 points. Sophomore Ashlynn Pinkney put up six. Earlier this month, McMillan hit the 1,000 career point milestone in the Griffins’ win over Columbia.
Clinton will play No.2 Eau Claire for the Upper State title. The winner advances to face Andrew Jackson or Lake City for the state title on March 8. Fairfield Central ends their season with an 11-12 record.
