Myrtle Beach girls overcome scoreless drought to edge St. James

Dating back to her playing days in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Myrtle Beach coach Jennifer Dennison couldn’t remember a scoreless quarter for one of her teams.

Consider Tuesday’s victory while doing so a bit of luck.

The Seahawks defeated Region VII-AAA foe St. James 40-32 at home despite a stretch of more than 10 minutes without any points. Drought included, the Sharks led for all of 1 minute, 13 seconds during the entire game.

“We’ve played close games, so we don’t panic,” Dennison said. “We just put the ball in the right people’s hands and we just try to finish the game.”

For as bad as the offense looked – both teams conservatively shot under 20 percent and turnovers were in abundance – it was the final 4:28 that mattered most. At that point, St. James took its only lead of the game on Abigail Rumpf’s 3-pointer from the corner. Seventy-three seconds later, Kiana Adderton’s shot from the lane gave Myrtle Beach the lead back, and the Seahawks never relented. Nia Sumpter’s layup and free throw pushed Myrtle Beach to a four-point lead.

In the final two minutes, Dennison’s team was seven-of-nine from the free-throw line, accounting for all of its points down the stretch.

Considering the Seahawks led 19-5 with a minute to go in the first quarter, the end result equated to a blown opportunity for St. James to steal what would have been a crucial road victory against one of the two favorites to win Region VII-AAA.

“I did not believe that,” St. James’ Stan Patterson said of Myrtle Beach’s scoreless window that didn’t end until more than a minute into the second half. “Coach told me at halftime. But my girls did a good job of competing and fighting back.

“Even though we got beat and even though it stings a little bit, they’ll have more confidence. Other than right there in the first quarter, we held our own.”

It was certainly a much more encouraging result for St. James, which fell to Myrtle Beach 51-27 during the Socastee Sand & Hoops Invitational in November.

This time around, Myrtle Beach was playing without starting point guard Keocia Walker (right hand). While she averages about eight points a game, she’s one of the area’s leaders in assists. Walker will likely be out for another week.

Meanwhile, St. James starting forward Bethany Goodrich (left leg) was also out. The regular starter averages about 10 points and six rebounds per game. But even with her on the bench, Myrtle Beach’s two inside forces, Sumpter and Adderton struggled after the initial run.

It was more than enough for Dennison to bench the duo at the beginning of the second half, trying to find any spark she could. They returned near the end of the third quarter and helped close the deal. But before they did, the smaller lineup was asked to get something, anything really, going.

“I didn’t really hesitate,” Dennison said. “I trust my bench. I know I have some key players on my bench.”

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach girls overcome scoreless drought to edge St. James."