Lady Bulldogs historic playoffs run continues as they advance to the third round

NEWBERRY — The lady Bulldogs are still dancing and advancing in the state playoffs as they picked up a home win in the second round. Newberry(10-16, 4-4 region 4-AAA) defeated Marlboro County(9-15, 4-6 region 5-AAA) 51-45 at home on Thursday evening to advance to the quarterfinals of the 3A state playoffs.

Newberry High School varsity girls’ basketball advanced to the second round for the first time since 2017-18 season. They hosted Marlboro County at Willie L. Scott gymnasium on Thursday, Feb. 20th and it went down to the wire.

The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle between the two squad, but the visitors led 15-12 after the first period. The tug-of-war battle continued in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs of Marlboro County ran into some trouble when their freshman star Serenity Bethea got into foul trouble and was forced to sit for a long stretch.

The lady Bulldogs of Newberry took advantage of her absence and made their run. The home team went on a 12-6 run to reclaim the lead. The run started on the defensive end as they were able to force turnovers with their full court pressure and get some easy baskets in transition. They were able to score eight fast break points in the quarter and went into halftime tied up at 24-24.

Junior forward Jasmin Robinson was a girl on a mission in the second half as she dominated after halftime. She had a team-high of 17 points with nine coming in the second half. She also was able to grab nine rebounds, including four offensive rebounds. She started the 10-3 run after the half and helped the home team Bulldogs build their biggest lead of the game.

Newberry went into the fourth quarter with a 40-36 lead.

The fourth quarter started off like third quarter, where Newberry jumped all over Marlboro County. They went on a 7-2 run to start the quarter and it forced the visitors to call a timeout so they could regroup. Newberry led 47-38 with about four and half minutes left to play in the game.

The visiting Bulldogs made one final push after the timeout and went on a 7-3 run that forced the home team to call a timeout in the final minute of regulation.

Marlboro County had four possessions in the final minute of the game and came up empty handed. The visitors went back home with their season over and Newberry advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Daizee Williams finished 13 points and four steals while her backcourt mate Tamaria Wadsworth had nine points.

Newberry will travel to Dillon, S.C. to take on lady Wildcats of Dillon High School on Saturday, Feb. 22nd at 4:00 p.m.