Northwestern HS vs Rock Hill HS

Northwestern’s Trojans may have entered its Wednesday evening Region 4-AAAAA contest with the Bearcats of Rock Hill with a 13-4 mark – not too far away from the 16-3 record Rock Hill had. It looked like anything but as the game went on as the Bearcats claimed an emphatic 61-19 victory over the visiting Trojans. Rock Hill had a 15-5 advantage over Northwestern after the first quarter and did not look back. Prep Girls Hoops made it up to the Metrolina area for the contest between the two area teams. Here are some aspects of the game that stood out. <em><strong>Plenty of Threes for No. 2</strong></em> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="267232" first="Alyssa" last="Hankerson"]</strong> (2025) had no problems shooting a great deal of 3-pointers and making a good number of those triples throughout the game. She led all scorers with 16 points with 12 of those coming by way of four made 3-pointers. Hankerson had four of the 10 triples Rock Hill drained as a team. Out of those 16 points, she had 14 at the half. <em><strong>Senior Appreciation Night</strong></em> Honoring a senior class has taken special meaning at Rock Hill given the composition of the girls basketball team for coach Kenny Orr. The Bearcats have seven seniors on the 2021-22 rendition and that veteran experience has proven to be a major asset as Rock Hill has established itself as a team to beat in 5A play. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-381079" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/01/IMG_6795-scaled-crop-2433x1597-1643278083-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-381081" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/01/IMG_6812-scaled-crop-2379x1562-1643278252-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> Those veterans that make up the Bearcats’ core also include <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="190145" first="Gracie" last="Wilson"]</strong>, who scored nine points and made three from downtown. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="190144" first="Makayla" last="Street"]</strong>, who committed to Brevard College in December, chimed in with eight points while Dartmouth track and field signee <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="190143" first="Jada" last="Jones"]</strong> added seven to the Rock Hill cause. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="231023" first="Laila" last="Hankerson"]</strong>, a 2023, also scored seven. <em><strong>Bright Spot</strong></em> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-381083" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/01/IMG_6828-1-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1643278369-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> While Trojans coach ShaRon Robinson will look at disdain from the final score of Wednesday night’s get-together, a bright spot was the play of junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="244090" first="Darby" last="Grigg"]</strong>. A three-sport athlete who also plays soccer and volleyball, Grigg scored 10 points and accomplished a lot of it by getting out in transition and converting on opportunities to score easy baskets. She also drained a 3-pointer in the third quarter in addition to hauling in rebounds and blocking shots. <em><strong>Keep this name in mind…</strong></em> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-381220" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/01/IMG_6802-scaled-crop-1971x1294-1643304990-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> The Trojans boast a name from the 2027 class that Northwestern fans – as well as South Carolina basketball fans in general will want to keep a close eye on in the coming seasons. That name is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="324542" first="JaNyia" last="Cunningham"]</strong>, who is nearly averaging a double-double for the season with 10.1 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per contest. Earlier this season, she had a 20-point, 13-rebound effort in a game against Hopewell (NC) in late December. She works hard in the paint to put points on the board, haul in rebounds and block shots. Cunningham does not take plays off. She will absorb contact and get to the free throw line, looks to create spacing in the low post and will attract double teams from defenses. <em><strong>All or Nothing</strong></em> There is arguably never a such thing as a perfect half of basketball or a perfect game. Mistakes happen and it is up to players, teams and coaches to get past those miscues and move onto the next play. That may not always be the case when looking at a postgame stat sheet – and how the second quarter went for Northwestern and Rock Hill may be a textbook example of that. The Bearcats shut out the Trojans in the second stanza 17-0 and the gap ballooned from 15-5 at the first quarter to 32-5 at halftime in what was a dominant Rock Hill outing. <em><strong>Up Next …</strong></em> Both teams are back in action on Friday. The Bearcats look to keep its winning ways going when it hosts Spring Valley while the Trojans travel to the Midlands for a matchup with Ridge View. Rock Hill and Northwestern will face each other again in the final games of their regular seasons on February 11 on the Trojans’ home floor.