ONE AND NOT DONE

No frills, nothing fancy. It was just a solid effort that included fundamentals on defense and a lot of heart and soul on both ends of the court.

 

And it resulted in another trip to the state championship for the Bishop England High School girls’ basketball team.

 

The Bishops defeated Andrew Jackson, 39-38, at the Florence Civic Center on Feb. 24 to reach the state championship for the eighth time in the program’s rich history.

 

The Bishops did it the hard way in the Class AA Lower State championship. Andrew Jackson looked invincible in the first half, taking a 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and expanding the cushion to 34-22 at halftime.

 

But the Bishops allowed only four points in the second half, two in the third quarter and another measly two in the final eight minutes. BE senior forward Evelyn Kitchin cashed in on a free-throw opportunity with three seconds left in the game to provide the margin of victory. 

 

“What a game, what an effort,” Bishop England coach Paul Runey said. “We didn’t quit. We regrouped at halftime and came out and played some really good defense in the second half.” 

 

Bishop England won its fourth consecutive game with the victory over the Volunteers to reach the state championship for the eighth time since the 2011-12 season. The Bishops have earned six state titles including 2012, 2014-17 and 2019.

 

Playing in a state championship seemed like a long shot back in late December as the Bishops finished up the non-region part of their schedule.

 

“We weren’t playing really good, but we were playing hard,” Runey said.

 

The three losses in the Christmas tournament gave the Bishops a 6-7 record. But they managed to win 13 of their next 17 games heading into the championship. 

 

Bishop England served up what might be the best 16-minute stretch of defense in the state this season, allowing four points in the stretch. 

 

“We were much better defensively in the second half,” Runey said. “We switched up on defense, going from man-to-man to zone. We created some breaks and opportunities.”

 

The Bishops received a scare when junior guard Izzy Woods was injured in the fourth quarter and missed the remainder of the game. 

 

Sophomore guard Lissie van De Erve was the only Bishop in double figures with 11 points.

 

With a couple of ticks left on the clock, Kitchin stepped to the foul line for two shots. She missed the first attempt, but sank the second shot for her only point of the game and the Bishops gained the semifinal victory.

 

The win gave the Bishops a 19-11 record and a date in title game on March 3 against Gray Collegiate; a team with a 21-6 record that defeated Keenan, 46-38, in the Upper State Championship to gain their ninth victory in a row. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. at USC Aiken.