Storybook season! Cross Schools girls win state title in first year
The Cross Schools capped off its storybook season Friday.
The first-year program rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Curtis Baptist (Ga.), 47-43, to win the SC Independent Schools Class A championship at the Sumter Civic Center.
The Cross Schools began in 1998 but this was the first year it had a varsity girls program.
“They earned it,” Cross Schools coach Matthew Fisher-Davis said. “It was kind of a feel-out year and we felt our way to a state championship,”
Fisher-Davis, a former Vanderbilt standout, was the school’s director of basketball and middle school coach when the season began. But after a coaching change four games into the season, he took over the girls team and didn’t know what to expect.
The team has just eight players and no seniors on the roster.
“At the beginning of the year, I had this idea we might be state champs but now it actually happened so that is cool,” freshman PJ Benson said.
The Stingrays finished the season on a 13-game winning streak but faced a rare fourth-quarter deficit in the championship game.
Curtis Baptist led 36-29 after Nyla Robinson’s 3-pointer with 7:20 left. But the Stingrays answered with a 10-3 run and Sydney Hollings’ 3-pointer gave them a 39-37 lead with 4:36 left.
“We kind of wear teams out and the fourth quarter is kind of our best quarter all season,” Fisher-Davis said. “We knew we were going to come out with the win. It is just adversity we have seen all year.”
With the score tied 39-39, Benson buried a 3-pointer to put the Stingrays ahead 42-39 with less than four minutes left.
Benson had 11 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. She also hit two key free throws to put Cross up 47-43 with 12 seconds left.
“It got a little rough in the third quarter but now we are state champs,” Benson said. “The big thing in the fourth quarter was moving the ball and making sure we beat their press and get open looks.”
Ryan Mayers added 15 points for The Cross Schools. Mayers and Benson earned all-tournament honors for the Stingrays.
This story was originally published February 23, 2024 at 12:00 AM.
