But even he, the Crusaders' former coach, never saw them play as well as they did Monday night as they bounced their region rivals from the SCISA Class A state playoffs with a 57-41 victory at Newberry College.
It was the fourth meeting between the teams this season, with Laurens holding a 3-1 advantage, including two wins in as many weeks at Newberry College. The Crusaders will advance to the SCISA Class A semifinals and play Bowman Academy.
The Eagles stayed with the second-seeded Crusaders until a cold-stretch midway through the second quarter.
Jessica Cole banked in a shot from the wing to cut Laurens' lead to 12-11 with 5:28 to play in the first half. Newberry was held without a field goal for nearly three minutes, while Laurens went on an 8-1 spurt capped off by a jumper from the top of the key by Laura Langston. The Crusaders went into halftime up 22-14, and put the game away in the first four minutes of the third quarter behind blistering shooting. Laurens led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter and never had its lead dip below 11 for the remainder of the game.
“They jumped out on us and their shots were falling. In the games that we played them, they shot the ball better than they ever had. They played much better than we did,“ Gilliam said. “Even when we played our aggressive man, I thought we played well, but they just played better, and they did it at the right time of the season.“
Newberry's Allison Shaw tried to help her team mount a charge in the second half. The Eagles' senior point guard scored 12 points in the game on four 3-pointers all in the second half. Nearly every time Shaw would make a potentially momentum-changing three, the Crusaders would answer back with consecutive baskets and defensive stops.
“(Shaw's) a true leader. She's one of the best leaders on the floor and off the floor. She keeps the team together win or lose,“ Gilliam said. “When you put that much intensity to it, and you hit those big shots, and for them to come back and answer, it just demoralizes you. I was still so proud of my girls, I felt they left it on the floor.“
Cole led the Eagles with 15 points, while Beth Carter and Marina Miller added five. Hannah Caviness led a balanced Laurens offense with 14 points, while Laura Broome added 12. Langston finished with 10, while Meagan Knight added eight.
The Eagles finished their up and down season on a high-note going into next year. They return nearly all of their key contributors, including several players that were just eighth or ninth graders.
“We have such a young team with so many young kids, eighth graders and freshmen,“ Gilliam said. “For us, the future looks bright.“
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