WOODRUFF — In the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s Region III-3A third-place tiebreaker at Woodruff High, Clinton’s freshman No. 11 nearly willed her team to a comeback win. Chapman’s freshman No. 11, however, had the final say.
Clinton’s De’Shanti Watts outscored Chapman’s Ke’Asia Anderson 9-7 in the fourth quarter, but Anderson hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute to secure the Panthers’ 46-40 victory.
The win gives Chapman a No. 3 seed in the Class 3A state playoffs. The Panthers will travel to Seneca in Monday’s opening round, while fourth-seeded Clinton plays at fourth-ranked Pendleton.
Coming off a 26-rebound performance two nights earlier, Chapman’s Bre Mabry had “only” 10 Thursday. But all of the Panthers hit the glass to the tune of a 41-25 advantage in rebounding. Five of those boards came on Chapman’s opening possession of the second half.
“We knew they would kind of key in on (Mabry), so we told everybody else to step up,” Chapman coach Leslie Boyd said. “It was a team effort on the boards.”
The Panthers never trailed in the game, but Clinton remained in shouting distance throughout. Every time the Red Devils got close though, Chapman had an answer. Clinton got within one twice in the fourth quarter, the last time on a layup by Watts that made it 38-37 with 2:30 left. Anderson responded by hitting a pair of free throws, although the second one was waved off by a lane violation.
The Panthers got a putback by Mabry and a layup by Destinee Bacote before Anderson hit 3-of-4 free throws to seal the win.
“As a freshman, (Anderson) stepped up big time to clinch it for us,” Boyd said.
Paige Aho scored 13 points to lead Chapman, while Anderson finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Watts had 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Clinton (11-14), while Savanna Campbell added 12 points and six rebounds.
The Panthers improved to 8-16 with the win, but half of those victories have come over their last five games. Boyd is looking forward to the challenge of the 84-mile road trip to Seneca Monday.
“We’re excited that we’ve kind of found our little groove now. We’ve just been emphasizing playing together and I feel like the girls have put everything we’ve worked on all season together,” Boyd said. “Surprisingly, we’ve played better on the road than at home so we’re excited to hit the road again and give it our best shot.”