South Carolina – AAAAA State Championship Preview – 3 Things To Know.

South Carolina &#8211; AAAAA State Championship Preview &#8211; 3 Things To Know.

Peter London

March 6, 2020 @ 10:17 AM

South Carolina - AAAAA State Championship Game Preview   Three things to know   Goose Creek High School ( 26 - 3 ) VS Clover High School ( 28 - 2 ) Friday March 6 - 7:00 PM   Goose Creek comes into this game looking to repeat in the AAAAA classification and make it 3 out of 4 years in the largest school group in South Carolina. Clover is riding the wave of great team chemistry and also a SuperStar in [player_tooltip player_id="124069" first="Aylesha" last="Wade"] who looks unstoppable so far this season.   <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400">Who is going to be the primary assignment to stop [player_tooltip player_id="124069" first="Aylesha" last="Wade"] for Goose Creek - Senior Guard - [player_tooltip player_id="124064" first="Aniyah" last="Oliver"] (Francis Marion Signe) or Senior Guard - Koila Adams?</li> </ol>   I have been able to watch both of these teams so far this year and I know one thing…. [player_tooltip player_id="124069" first="Aylesha" last="Wade"] is a true force on the Basketball court, I am looking to see which one of the Senior Guards does coach Tim Baldwin of Goose Creek start off the game with on her. [player_tooltip player_id="124064" first="Aniyah" last="Oliver"] has proved to be a lockdown defender, we can look back to last Year’s championship game vs Spring Valley where she was able to force Taylor Britt to foul out in the 4th quarter and also prevent any of the perimeter players from scoring the final 2 minutes, she is also averaging 13.5 Pts & 4.4 Assists per game this year in leading her team back to the State Final. Koila Adams is a super athletic dynamo on the court as well, she was instrumental in that comeback vs Spring valley last year with her perimeter defense as well, she is 5’7” and has great footwork and don’t forget her 11.2 Pts & 2.3 steals per game average. I believe Koila Adams may be the primary defender to start vs Wade because they are very similar Athletes.   <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400">Can Clover use its height advantage to overwhelm Goose Creek on the interior?</li> </ol>   From watching both of these teams so far this year I can say that Clover has a huge Height advantage, in numbers of players and skill level. This Clover team is going to rotate in 3 Girls at 6’1” that are very skilled and have produced so far this year - Junior - Janelle Carter - Has been a constant Double/Double so far this year, she shows up in Big moments for this team and has averaged 9.9 Pts & 7.2 Rebounds per game. Junior - La’Destiny Worthy - is another front court player that has shown some promise, she plays hard and uses her size to Clovers advantage, she comes into the Title game averaging 5.3 Pts & 5.3 Rebounds. Rounding out the impact front court players for Clover is Junior - Taylor Thomas - 4.4 Pts & 5.3 Rebounds are magnified by the fact she comes off the bench most of the time and is very impactful especially cleaning the glass on the defensive side, holding their opponent to 1 shot. I emphasize this group because Goose Creek has 1 Player listed at 5’10” and usually plays with a smaller lineup made up of Guards, Clover must take advantage as much as possible if they want to take this Championship Trophy away from Coach Time Baldwin & Goose Creek.   <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400">[player_tooltip player_id="124069" first="Aylesha" last="Wade"] has led this team all year but it is there 1st time in the Title Game as a Group, who else needs to step up for Clover?</li> </ol>   Clover is all about [player_tooltip player_id="124069" first="Aylesha" last="Wade"], how she goes the team follows - During the season she averaged 20.8 Pts but has shown up with 25, 28 & 34 Points over the last 3 Playoff games to get her team to this point. There are some other players especially in their backcourt that you need to know - Senior - Marianna Ballard ( Johnson & Wales Signee) has averaged 9.8 Pts & 3.2 Assists so far and has really shot the ball extremely well from behind the arc, Goose Creek will need to know where she is on the court. Sophomore - Ashley Farmer - Is really coming into her own as the season progressed, she is a skilled ball handler that can knock down the jump shot if left open, whatchout for her during the Title game as well. This group from Clover will have to overcome the experience that Goose Creek has on their side, it will be interesting to see who is able to impose their will down the stretch.