WALTERBORO – Glynn Darby propped his forearm against the underpinning of the bleachers just outside the girls locker room at Colleton County High School and used it to cushion his head.

His breaths were deep and tears streamed down his cheeks as an assistant coach made his way over to console him. But, no amount of consoling could take the hurt out of Darby’s voice after his Bethune-Bowman Lady Mohawks basketball team saw its season come to an end in the third round of the Class A Lower State girls playoffs, losing to Hardeeville, 55-51 Monday night.

“It’s really hurting me right now because that was our goal … to go to the next round and then to the next and win state,” the Lady Mohawks head coach said as he choked back tears. “That was our goal, and we were not going to let anything stop us, but we fell a little short. I’m not taking anything away from them. They are a great team. I just think, pound-for-pound, we are still a better athlete than them. It’s just that we couldn’t get some of the shots to fall or make some of the free throws. We got a little nervous there at the end and things just didn’t fall our way.”

The Lady Mohawks (21-4) trailed Hardeeville (20-3), 27-20, at the half. But, LaQuanda Williams, who had a game-high 19 points, scored on a layup with 7:20 to go in the third to cut the lead to 27-22. Williams then led a Bethune-Bowman surge that saw them take a 34-27 on a short jumper by Keyana Thomas with 3:42 to go in the quarter. Less than a minute later however, Williams was whistled for an offensive foul, her fourth foul of the game, and Darby was forced to sit his star with 2:53 to go in the third.

“When she went out they were like a viper,” Darby said. “They knew she was our horse and they went for the jugular vein. They tried to spread us out, and they were slashing to the hoop. When (Williams) is not in the middle of the defense helping out, that’s a big part of our defense that is missing. The other girls tried to step up, but they just couldn’t step up enough.”

With Williams out, Hardeeville quickly retook the lead, 36-35, at the end of the quarter. The Lady Mohawks kept it close for the first few minutes of the fourth, but Hardeeville got back-to-back 3-pointers from Amber Johnson and Tykeeba Hughes to up their lead to 48-41 with 3:56 to go in the game.

Bethune-Bowman twice cut that lead to four, once on a layup by Destiny Berry and again on a layup by Rhonda Hook, with under a minute to play but Hardeeville held on for the win.

Bethune-Bowman led 15-12 after the first quarter, but went cold from the field in the second as Hardeeville led by as much as 10, 25-15, before taking its seven-point lead into the half.

“We wanted to get this one for the seniors,” Darby said. “The big three … LaQuanda, Rhonda and Jasmine (Shuler). They carried us all year long, and we wanted to win two more games and give them a nice going away present. But, we still have some good athletes coming back. We just have to learn how to finish tight games, dig down within and just go from there. When the going gets tough, you just have to get tougher..”

Hardeeville (55) – Tykeeba Hughes 18, Jomanaa Smalls 17, Amber Johnson 12, Rivers 6, Lee 2.

Bethune-Bowman (51) – LaQuanda Williams 19, Rhonda Hook 11, Shuler 7, Thomas 4, Berry 4, Pelzer 4, Hook 2.Halftime: Hardeeville 27-20.

n T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be reached via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Check out his blog, Welcome to Linderland, at www.thetandd.com.

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