Myrtle Beach girls run away from St. James for victory

Myrtle Beach girls basketball coach Jennifer Dennison put the emphasis on defense Friday night as the Seahawks’ goal was to hold St. James to 30 points.

Check.

Behind the play of junior Nia Sumpter and senior Keocia Walker, Myrtle Beach jumped out to a big lead over the Sharks and never looked back en route to a 46-27 win to keep rolling in Region VII-AAA play.

“I thought it was a great game,” Dennison said. “We tried to make some adjustments with some of our bench players and the girls never gave up. This is a big win and we played a great game, especially defensively. Our goal was to hold St. James to 30 points or less. They put up 27.”

The Seahawks put the pressure on St. James early on, taking a 21-14 lead into the locker room. Myrtle Beach really kicked it into gear after halftime, jumping on the Sharks with a 12-3 run to pull away.

A big part of the Seahawks’ second-half dominance was its free throw shooting. Sumpter went 8-for-8 from behind the stripe after halftime, and Walker was 6-for-6 at the line in the contest.

“We did a great job from the line. But again, I’m just pleased with the defense,” Dennison said. “Like I told the girls: offense sells tickets, defense wins games.”

St. James failed to have a scorer reach double figures. Kimmie Hotzelt was the closest with eight points, and Kelsi Bachmann chipped in seven.

“I thought we had a solid effort tonight; [Myrtle Beach] is just good. They have two very big, athletic girls in Sumpter and (Kiana) Adderton and their point guard (Walker) runs the show. They’re tough to beat,” Sharks coach Stan Patterson said. “But again, I’m very proud of my girls’ effort tonight.”

In the previous meeting, the Sharks held the Seahawks scoreless in the third quarter and took a lead over them but eventually fell 40-32.

“The last one hurts a little more,” Patterson said. “We have to put this behind us and move on.”

With two games remaining, the Seahawks have clinched a playoff spot but are still fighting for the top spot in the region standings. Wilson sits in second place at 6-2, the Sharks are in third at 5-3 and North Myrtle Beach is fourth at 4-4.

Dennison isn’t overlooking anyone and wants to keep it simple.

“The coaching staff keeps telling them to take it one game at a time as we head into the playoffs,” Dennison said.

Meanwhile, the Sharks have two huge tasks ahead as they travel to take on Wilson on Tuesday at 6 p.m., and host Lake City in the region finale Thursday at 6 p.m.

“We have a good, solid region and I think that will show come playoff time,” Patterson said. “We go out and all four teams, realistically, could win their first round games. It’s a battle every night and you have to show up ready to play every night or you’re going to get beat. So we’ll just keep moving forward and see how things play out.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach girls run away from St. James for victory."