Berkeley Independent
Aleighsa Welch scored a season-high 36 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to lead Goose Creek's girls to their first-ever state championship with a 64-63 win over defending champion Spring Valley Friday night at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.
Welch's make of a technical free throw with 5.7 seconds left proved to be the winning margin for the Lady Gators, who trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half before coming back.
Welch missed the first technical free throw after Spring Valley called a timeout when it didn't have one but settled down and got the roll on the next one.
Goose Creek kept the ball after the technical and Tyshonda Hawkins was fouled with 4.7 seconds left. Her free throw hit the side of the rim and bounced into the corner and Spring Valley's half-court heave as the horn sounded never had a chance and the Lady Gators stormed the floor.
Welch also hit a clutch basket at the end of regulation, a 15-footer from the baseline that got a fortunate bounce to tie the score at 63-63 with 7.8 seconds left.
Spring Valley nearly threw it away on the ensuing inbounds bass but two Goose Creek players were unable to come up with and it went out of bounds on the side. The Lady Vikings' Azia Dozier then had trouble getting the pass in and asked for a timeout.
After falling behind 35-14 less than 10 minutes into the game, Goose Creek scored 24 straight points to take a 38-35 lead early in the third quarter.
But Spring Valley was leading 59-50 with 3:49 left in the game before Goose Creek rallied for the second time to force the exciting finish.
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