Lady Jackets fall from playoffs
A 26-point game by Kayla West gave Goose Creek High School a run for its money Friday evening in the AAAA girls' basketball playoffs, but North Augusta High School ended up on the rough end of a 56-46 score.
Playing on the road, North Augusta rallied from a nine-point deficit and took a brief lead, 40-38, early in the fourth quarter. Goose Creek, however, dominated for the rest of the way.
Joining West with scoring data for North Augusta were Michaela Stevenson and Kirby Norris, both at seven, and Tammy Bennon, at six.
North Augusta, coached by Jared Adamson, concluded its season with an overall record of 16-8 and a Region 5-AAAA record of 11-3. Goose Creek, girded by Aleighsa Welch's 18 points and N'Dea Bryant's 17, racked up its 15th straight win.
Adamson's squad had advanced to the second round by way of a Tuesday road rout against Summerville. In that contest, the final tally was 60-42, as West pocketed 23 points, followed by teammates Norris, at 13; Bennon, 11; and Stevenson, 10.
"It was a good year," said Adamson, having completed this third season with North Augusta. "The girls worked really hard in the off-season to have the year that we did."
He described it as "definitely a good growing year" and pointed out that the squad improved its record in both 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Adamson could be in great shape in 2010-11 on the basis of junior-varsity results. The JV girls' team went 13-2 this season.
"It's pretty much wide-open," he said, referring to the varsity roster situation for next season.