The fact that Darlington was an at-large entry into the Class 4A girls basketball playoffs didn’t fool Bluffton coach Lonnie Roberts for a second. Roberts knows the brand of basketball played in the Falcons’ region, and he knew what to expect.
“I knew it was gonna be a dogfight, because of the type of teams they’re playing up there,” Roberts said. “I knew it was gonna be a difficult task.”
The top-seeded Bobcats were up to the challenge, earning a hard-fought 49-37 victory over visiting Darlington in Tuesday’s first round.
The Bobcats were never in danger of an upset — they raced out to an 18-7 lead after one quarter and kept the Falcons at arm’s reach the rest of the way — but it was far from a first-round walk-over.
Darlington slowed down Bluffton star Tatyana Aiken, limiting her to eight points, and clawed to stay in the game all night, refusing to let the Bobcats pull away.
“We expected it,” Aiken said. “We knew it wasn’t gonna be easy, but we just pushed through it.”
The Bobcats might have built a little bigger cushion if they could have done a better job of converting at the foul line. Bluffton was just 9-for-20 at the line through the first three quarters before going 9-for-14 in the fourth quarter to ice the win.
Eighth-grader Tacoya Heyward carried the load for the Bobcats with 21 points, including 4-of-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.
“She’s seasoned now. She’s a veteran,” Roberts said. “She’s very knowledgeable. She goes and does scouting reports. You don’t get that with 12- or 13-year-old kids.”
Bluffton (21-3) will host North Myrtle Beach in the second round. The Bobcats are also hosting the Class 4A Lower State wrestling qualifier this weekend, so the day and time for the basketball game is to be determined.Â
Story and photos by Justin Jarrett
