Lady Eagles' Maxfield has breakout stretch on way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

Scott's Branch forward Trayiona Maxfield may just be an eighth-grader, but she didn't play like one last week.

The Lady Eagle put on a show as Scott's Branch hit the home stretch of its season, including a career-high 27 points in a win over Cross. Maxfield helped the Lady Eagles finish the regular season with a soft landing, winning three straight games to put a bow on a second-place finish in Region V-1A, earning Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week honors in the process.

"I played my heart out, and I appreciate everyone who voted for me," she said. "It's really tough, especially for an eighth-grader."

Scott's Branch head coach Lucinda Stukes saw Maxfield turn a corner after a blowout 76-10 loss to No. 1 Military Magnet, the top-ranked team in SCHSL 1A, to close out January. Maxfield then scored 18 in a loss to Baptist Hill when they were without some key contributors and carried that momentum into a three-game winning streak to close out the regular season.

"It helped her to see that she could turn it on a little bit and there are things she can do to help the team be better. That was a real turning point for Tray, that weekend after the storm," Stukes said. "We only scored 10 points at Military Magnet, but she was getting more aggressive about getting to the basket that Friday night, and then we had to turn right back around and go back to Charleston that Saturday morning, and I had a conversation with her and one of our other guards, and Tray just said, 'OK, Coach, I hear you.' She's been working hard ever since."

Those losses lit a fire under Maxfield and her teammates. The Lady Eagles didn't want to whimper into playoffs on a down note.

"I'm very proud of my team because we really came far," Maxfield said. "I was just ready to score. I've got to lock in for me to score, and when I get the ball, I know what I'm about to do."

Scott's Branch started this winning streak with a 49-28 win over Bethune Bowman. Maxfield didn't get off to a great start, but she found her groove to the tune of 14 points, which led the team in the victory.

"When we were warming up, in my head I was like, 'We're about to get this big W, we're about to win.' I was confident, everyone was happy and smiling," Maxfield said. "When it got to the first quarter, I started doing badly, but in the second quarter, I started hyping up. When I get sad, it turns on the team and makes the team sad, so I started scoring and started hyping myself up."

Scott's Branch was able to beat Bethune-Bowman on the back of lockdown defense, which has been their calling card all season long. That continued in a 50-21 win over Cross before crushing Lowcountry Leadership 70-6 on Tuesday to close out the regular season.

"Our defense is crazy," Maxfield said simply. "I feel like we've got the best varsity defense in the state. Nobody can beat our presses. Nobody can beat that. Every possession we either get a jump (ball) or get the other team to turn the ball over."

The game against Cross was truly Maxfield's coming-out party. She went off for 27 points, most of which came after halftime. She attacked the basket with unrelenting effort, and it turned into an impressive offensive performance.

"I was hyping the team up, but in the first quarter, I was playing soft, and I couldn't get any scores," she said. "In the second quarter, I started scoring and said, 'Oh my God, I'm really proud of myself.'

"It was driving to the basket. I can hit a little hesi(tation) or something like that because their defense wasn't really like that, but no one is topping our defense, so I could really take them to the basket."

Stukes was impressed to see her eighth-grader find that new gear, especially in a game where she didn't get out to a perfect start.

"I told her, 'You don't have to go backwards, you don't have to defer, just do what you do and play your game,'" Stukes said. "She makes mention of the game we went down to Lakewood (in December), and she took a couple of hard licks. She said she knew she could do it from then. She's prepared for this moment, this postseason. She's primed and ready to go. She's very, very young in one sense, but on the court, she's super mature, and I'm really proud of her for that.

"She just has to continue to be fearless. She has never said she's nervous. It's just keeping that fearlessness, that toughness and have that wherewithal to keep going. At some point, she may have to say, 'Y'all have to get on my back, let's go.' And she can do that."

That win was a confidence booster for Maxfield, who followed that performance with another 15 points against Lowcountry Leadership to wrap up the regular season. The Lady Eagles now prepare to host Lake View in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday. While they fell out of the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association rankings after their two-game losing streak, they're planning to carry some great momentum into the postseason and quiet any haters.

"I'm just really proud of my team. Who knew we would make it this far? I mean, I knew, but no one else did," Maxfield said. "We like to win, and we practice hard every day. Coach has us in that gym. That's the best coach ever; she just makes sure we're all right. Of everything in the world, I just like to win.

"We've got something to prove."