North Myrtle Beach girls’ bid for state championship ends at hands of Berkeley

North Myrtle Beach coach Heather Kearney had a less-than-ideal week.

The Chiefs’ girls basketball coach has battled illness and it was questionable whether she was even going to be able to coach in the Class 5A Division II Lower State Championship against Berkeley on Wednesday afternoon at the Florence Center.

Kearney was able to tough it out, but her team ran into an athletic buzz saw in a 67-32 loss to the Stags, ending the Chiefs’ best season since reaching the state championship in 2021.

“We can’t let today overshadow (what we accomplished),” Kearney said. “We knew coming in that (Berkeley) was a really, really good team. But we had a lot of growth this season and had to persevere and overcome a lot of adversity. Our hearts are broken right now, but in time we will be able to realize what we accomplished.”

Berkeley will play in its first state championship at 4 p.m. Saturday against the Greenwood/Greenville winner.

North Myrtle Beach finishes the season with a 22-3 mark. The other two losses came at the hands of region rival Carolina Forest.

The Chiefs only led once — they scored the first basket of the game — and fell behind by 22 points at the half behind a barrage of 3-pointers from Berkeley and their own inability to get into an offensive flow.

The Stags forced 15 first-half turnovers and North Myrtle Beach was able to get to the free-throw line but shot a woeful 5 of 14 from the charity stripe. Berkeley also connected on four 3-pointers in the first quarter to set the tone that never ended.

“We knew they were really good and it’s not just their top five, they have really good depth,” Kearney said. “We felt 15 feet and in they are really good and some days from three they aren’t as efficient. We had to take a gamble, and they made some early to get their confidence.”

Seniors Faith Farmer scored 11 and NaVaeh Washington had nine points to pace North Myrtle Beach. Sophomore Madison Vereen added eight points.

Any hopes the Chiefs had of making a comeback wilted quickly. Berkeley guards Alaina Carter and Aiyanna Moses controlled the tempo on both ends and by the time the fourth quarter began, the Stags held a 54-21 advantage and were gearing up for their first state championship game appearance in school history.

Carter paced the Stags with 15 points and Madison Thomas and Demi Gray chipped in 11 apiece.

This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 5:50 PM.