Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week: Croskey carrying Sumter through the early rounds of the playoffs

Sumter point guard Kiara Croskey is no stranger to the postseason.

She may just be a sophomore, but Croskey has been in the playoffs with the Lady Gamecocks in each of the last four seasons. That playoff experience is helping her take over games for SHS, as she has been the leading scorer in each of their first three games.

Those performances also helped her earn Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week honors.

"I remember having a conversation with (head coach Jeff) Schaffer, and he told me I needed to step up more. He was absolutely correct," Croskey said of what sparked her performance last week. "Me being the leader on the team and playing varsity since the seventh grade, I knew I was capable of bringing the energy out to the game, and that's what I continued to do.

"I just had the mindset to just play my game and let the game come to me. Everything would be alright if I just believed in myself."

Croskey and the Lady Gamecocks started off with a bang, flying past the century mark in a 109-19 win over Chapin. Croskey, who was named to the 5A all-state team on Wednesday by the SCBCA, individually doubled up her opponents, scoring a school-record 44 points in the win.

"It was crazy, but I knew we were capable of doing it," Croskey said. "Once we had 80, I was like, 'We have to go to 100. We've never put 100 on the scoreboard, so why not try it now?'"

Croskey stayed heavily involved in the offense even as the Lady Gamecocks outpaced Chapin by 90 points. She said her mindset is to always stay locked in.

"You have to keep that mindset because anything can happen," Croskey said. "You can never get your hopes down too low. You can never get them up too high. You just have to continue to play your game whether you're up or down."

On Saturday, Sumter hosted Wando, a team they faced in the lower state championship last season. It was also the day before Croskey's 16th birthday, so there was a lot of anticipation.

"I was excited, but I knew it was a tough game because we played them last year, so I know they had a chip on their shoulder," Croskey said. "Us losing the state championship last year, we had a chip on our shoulders, too, so it was just about who wanted it more."

Croskey had another monster performance, scoring 32 points despite sitting the entire third quarter while in foul trouble. Sumter got out to an electric start on both sides of the ball, leading 21-4 after a quarter of play. Wando didn't attempt a shot from the field for the first three minutes of the game, as the Lady Gamecocks forced turnover after turnover.

"Communicating," Croskey said of what led to the early success. "Making sure everyone is on the same page, everybody's moving. Communicating is really important."

Sumter head coach Jeff Schaffer has appreciated the leadership she's provided the Lady Gamecocks, especially because it's not easy for a sophomore to carry a heavy leadership role.

"She really has flipped that switch, and she's starting to play and take leadership responsibilities and doing all of the little things you expect a leader to do at this point," Schaffer said. "As a sophomore, it's tough for a kid to do that. If she was a senior, it would be a different situation. With her being a sophomore, it's nice to see that knowing that I'm going to have her for another two years after this. I can see that getting better and better as she goes on."

After another win over Lexington on Tuesday where Croskey scored another 27 points, Sumter is back in the lower state championship for the second year in a row.

Croskey likes where they Lady Gamecocks are at heading into the contest against Summerville.

"It's another chip on our shoulder, but we're going one game at a time. We just have to come out and play our best game like we always do," Croskey said. "We have to keep playing with the aggressiveness that we can, and hopefully everything goes our way."