Trojans trip Bruins twice for region sweep

ROCK HILL – The Lancaster Bruins battled, but it wasn’t enough in a pair of tough hardwood setbacks in Region III-AAAA play at Northwestern High School on Friday, Jan. 18. In the opener, the Lady Bruins gave the No. 7 Northwestern Lady Trojans a battle before falling short in a 40-31 setback. In the nightcap, Lancaster saw the comeback-minded Trojans rally for the 50-43 win over the Bruins. Lancaster, in the boys game, produced a solid first half to forge a 29-15 halftime lead on host NWHS. LHS junior guard Deuce Dunlap netted 10 of his team-high 16 points in the opening two periods. Dunlap drilled a corner trey just before the first-half buzzer to stake LHS, 10-9, 2-6, to a 14-point spread. In the second half, the Trojans, 8-11, 4-4, steadily climbed back into the game and closed the gap to 35-31 with a period to play. The Bruins’ Shai McCain converted on a three-point play with 3:50 left for a 40-37 lead, but from that point the fast-finishing Trojans used a 13-3 run to take the 50-43 victory. “They made plays and we didn’t,” said LHS coach Ricardo Priester. “We didn’t take care of the ball and they converted off our turnovers. At the end, they also hit their foul shots.” LaThomas Long, who led NWHS with 16, scored nine in the final period, including seven straight free throws, to key the win. Dunlap’s 16 led LHS. C.D. Pelham posted nine and Marquivious Hall had six. McCain had five points and 12 rebounds. E.J. Patterson netted three. Demarcus Montgomery and Calvin Crawford added two each. Long’s 16 led the Trojans, 8-3 in their last 11 games. Rontavius McClure had 11, six in the second half, and Manzi Hill hit 12, 10 after the break. In the opener, the game Lady Bruins, 6-9, 4-4, battled to the wire before dropping the 40-31 loss. Northwestern built an early edge and appeared late to have the issue in hand, but the Lady Bruins, down by 12 late, kept coming, but fell shy. NWHS, 13-2, 8-0, led 21-13 at the break, but LHS held the home team to three points in the third period to stay close at 24-19. “I thought we played good, solid defense, but we didn’t execute our offense in key situations,” LHS coach Ronnie Robinson said. “I was pretty happy with the way we played, but I wish we could have made a few more plays and pulled out the win.” Phoebe Johnson led LHS with 17, 11 in the second half, to go with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Aliyah Davis hit three and grabbed 11 boards with three steals. Kaela Robinson, Sha’Ron Brunson, and Keyotta Garris hit three points each. Tilandra Staton had two points. Northwestern was led by Mariah McCoy’s 12 points, eight in the first half. Aubrianna Thompson had 11, six in the second half, and Ieshia Love scored eight, all in the final period. Lancaster returns home Tuesday to face Clover and hits the road Friday for a region twin bill at Rock Hill High School.

Robert Howey

Lancaster High School senior Marquivious Hall (24) launches a shot in the Bruins’ road region loss to Northwestern of Rock Hill on Friday, Jan. 18. LHS hosts Clover on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

Robert Howey

Lancaster High School girls coach Ronnie Robinson stresses a point to his team during the Lady Bruins’ road loss to Northwestern on Friday, Jan. 18. LHS is home Tuesday, Jan. 22 to face Clover in region play at 6:30 p.m.