Late bucket pushes Wilson past top-ranked Myrtle Beach

The fifth-ranked Wilson High School girls basketball team’s whiteboard displayed the Tigers’ motivation for top-ranked Myrtle Beach as it read, “We will beat Myrtle Beach together.”

It took a team effort, but Shamiyah Barnes and D’Asia Gregg led the charge.

In a matchup of two of the state’s premier Class AAA teams, Gregg scored 17 points, and Barnes — with the game tied at 53 and 12.6 seconds left in the contest — willed herself to the basket for a three-point play and a 56-53 win Saturday night in the Region VII-AAA opener for both teams.

The Tigers, however, saw it as much more after the program’s first win against a top-ranked team in decades, according to Wilson coach Gerrin Harrison.

“It feels great,” said Barnes, who finished with 15 points. “It feels like we won the state championship or something.”

Bryanna Goodson was also in double figures for Wilson with 13 points.

Different players stepped up at different times for Wilson, such as the second quarter when Gregg scored 13 points to help erase a 16-11 Seahawks lead.

But at the end, the ball was where Harrison wanted it to be — in Barnes’ hands.

“Big players make big plays, and big players do big things,” said Harrison, whose team improved to 12-2. “It’s more than just scoring 30 points. It’s when your team needs you, you’ve got to do something. Make the big plays.”

Barnes did exactly that.

From the second quarter on, it was a closely contested game.

Wilson, which led 28-25 at halftime, then had to rally from a 40-34 deficit which was helped by 3-pointers from the Seahawks’ Kyerra Adderton and Jalah Horton.

A putback by Wilson’s Avahna Baker and layup by Goodson then drew the Tigers within 40-38. Then, around the top of the key, Gregg sank a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer for a 41-40 Wilson advantage.

They went back and forth in the fourth, and the game was tied at 53 on a layup by Horton with 33 seconds left.

Then, Harrison drew up the final play, and that was that. The Seahawks, after Barnes’ basket, was unable to get a good look at the rim and time expired.

Before the game, there was miscommunication about the starting time. The Tigers’ school website schedule had the game starting at 4:30. Myrtle Beach thought it was at 6.

The game, after junior-varsity play, actually started around 5:30.

“Well, I thought it was a great game, but us getting there late; we thought the game was at 6,” Seahawks coach Jennifer Dennison said. “While on the road, coming here we were told it’s at 5:30, and it was a big adjustment trying to hurry up and get there and get the girls ready.”

But Dennison lamented her team’s free-throw shooting.

“The difference in the game was free throws,” Dennison said. “We were 4 of 13 from the free-throw line. When you miss that many free throws, you’re not going to be the winner against a tough team like Wilson.”

Myrtle Beach (12-4) was led by Nia Sumpter with 13, followed by Kiana Adderton with 11.

Boys basketball

▪ Wilson 63, Myrtle Beach 49 | Wilson pulled away with an 18-9 fourth quarter to seal the victory and improve to 5-7 on the season.

Although Blake Walker led the Tigers with 16 points, Jamal Bryant had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Teammate Duncan LeXander, meanwhile, added nine points and nine rebounds.

“Well, we stayed with the game plan and we played hard,” Wilson coach Derrick McQueen said. “Not that we didn’t play hard in some games we lost. But, the kids continued to play well. They followed the game plan. No individuals. We played like a team tonight.”

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Late bucket pushes Wilson past top-ranked Myrtle Beach."