Midlothian bumps KFHS girls from playoffs

The anguish of having put itself in a position to win and not being able to close the deal belonged to the King’s Fork High School girls’ basketball team on Tuesday night at the Kennel.

The Lady Bulldogs were behind for most of the night against talented Midlothian High School, finally catching up in the fourth quarter of the Region 4A South tournament opening-round game. They took the lead twice in the final three minutes, but ultimately lost 63-62.

The Lady Trojans were sharp from the start of the game, taking a 26-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. They led 37-32 at halftime and 53-48 going into the fourth quarter.

“They passed the ball well, they shot the ball well,” King’s Fork coach Maurice Fofana said of Midlothian. “They played a complete game. It was more (a matter of) what we didn’t do.”

The Lady Bulldogs got some steals and some breaks from missed Midlothian shots, but didn’t take care of the ball well enough. Rather than running or working the ball up the court in transition, they often hurled long passes the intended recipient could not hold on to.

The Lady Bulldogs didn’t hit enough free throws late in the game. While they missed only six overall, five of those misses came in the fourth quarter.

Freshman guard Camary Harris went 1-of-2 from the line with three minutes remaining in the game to give King’s Fork a 58-57 lead. Midlothian reclaimed the lead, 59-58, but KF senior guard Imani Lewis made a basket with 1:24 left to make it 60-59.

Nine seconds later, two Lady Trojan free throws switched the lead again.

Lady Bulldogs junior forward Latonia Thomas, who finished with 12 points and was strong in the paint, fouled out with 53 seconds remaining.

Midlothian missed a free throw, but as two King’s Fork players struggled to claim the rebound, a Lady Trojan grabbed it instead and sunk the basket to put her team up 63-60.

KF sophomore forward Amesha Miller, the Ironclad Conference Player of the Year, gave her team new life when she drew a foul with 23.8 seconds and hit both free throws, making it a one-point game.

The game appeared to be sealed several seconds later when the Lady Trojans got the ball and passed it down to a couple of their players who were standing under their hoop, unguarded. But one of the players did not get a handle on the ball, and it fell out of bounds, giving King’s Fork a gift with 15.7 seconds to go.

But the Lady Bulldogs were not able to capitalize on the opportunity.

“We fought hard to the end, and that’s all you can ask of them,” Fofana said of his girls.

He said his team was able to close the gap on the scoreboard during the contest by stepping up its defense.

“I think in the beginning, a lot of our young kids were a little bit nervous,” Fofana said.

In terms of what caused his team’s miscues overall, he said, “Some of it was youth, and some of it was nerves.”

Miller ended up with 20 points, sophomore guard Cydney Nichols had 18 points, Lewis had nine points and Harris added three.

King’s Fork ended the season with an overall record of 17-6.

“I think it was a pretty good year,” Fofana said. Recalling 20-win seasons in year’s past, he added, “Our record was not a King’s Fork record of old, but the kids played well.”