Lady Cardinals advance to 2A state finals

Published 12:12 pm Monday, February 26, 2024

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LANDRUM—The Landrum Lady Cardinals are headed to the 2A SCHSL state finals after winning two games last week, extending their winning streak to twelve games. 

Their recent success began on Tuesday, February 20, with a 50-42 home win against the Keenan Lady Raiders (16-9) in the Upper State semi-finals. The Lady Cards started strong, building a 14-5 lead at the end of the 1st quarter, but the Lady Raiders fought back and cut the lead to 3 points at halftime, with a score of 24-21. Nevertheless, the Lady Cards managed to pull away in the second half, securing an 8-point victory, which sent them to the Upper-State Finals and the 2A Final Four. 

The Lady Cardinals then traveled to the Florence Center in Florence, S.C., to play the Upper-State Finals against the Gray Collegiate Academy Lady War Eagles (20-10) from West Columbia, S.C. It was a low-scoring game, but the Cardinals managed to win 31-26, securing the Upper State Championship and a spot in the 2A State Finals. The game was tied at halftime 17-17, and the Lady Cards trailed by 1 point entering the 3rd quarter, but senior Savannah Brown stepped up and had a big game with 11 points, 21 rebounds, and eight assists, helping the team once again pull away late in the game. 

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“There are certain teams that have almost a destiny to them,” said Coach Jared St. Charles. “And we’ve said this from the beginning–we’re going to keep riding it out and playing hard. We’ve got seniors, and they are the ones who find a way at the end of the day. They did awesome, and I’m so proud of them.” 

On Friday, the Lady Cardinals (27-3) will be making their first state championship appearance since 1975, where they will face the Andrew Jackson Lady Volunteers (26-4). The 2A SCHSL championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Florence Center.