Sumter looks to regain mental edge after layoff

The Sumter High School girls basketball team had to fight off one more - and hopefully the last - curveball in preparation for its showdown against Clover for the 5A state title on Saturday.

After having to wait two weeks before playing the game because a Clover player tested positive for coronavirus, the Lady Gamecocks weren't able to practice on Thursday. Since Sumter School District decided to allow only virtual learning on Thursday because of the possible threat of inclement weather, the team was unable to practice.

"From a physical standpoint, I think we're OK," said SHS head coach Jeff Schaffer. "The mental side of it is what concerns me the most. We had a really good practice yesterday (on Wednesday), and I don't know if it had anything to do with you guys filming (an episode of Sumter Today) or what, but It was a really good practice. They were loose, they were getting after it, we just got a lot accomplished.

"My biggest concern right now is just the mental side, how do we get fired back up again. Yesterday kind of answered that a little bit. I challenged them on Monday that Monday practices typically aren't that good anyway because you've been off on the weekend or whatever. Let's just make sure every practice gets better, and Tuesday was better than Monday, and yesterday was better than Tuesday. And then we get the word about halfway through practice that we can't practice. There it is again, another one of those crazy obstacles we have to overcome. We just have to be mentally sharp and be able to do it."

This is nothing new for the Lady Gamecocks. After getting five games under the belts to start the seasons, Sumter couldn't' practice or play for close to two months because hybrid learning was stopped during that time. Once back, Sumter played 11 games in 23 days to reach the championship game only to be delayed one more time.

The Lady Gamecocks will make up for that missed practice by having two sessions on Friday. They will practice before school starts and have a light workout following school.

"When we left practice yesterday, they were upbeat, they were into it," Schaffer said. We're going to practice in the morning and then practice in the afternoon to touch base for the last time before we get down there."

There is Aiken, and the game will be played at USC Aiken Convocation Center beginning at 1 p.m. SHS will bring a 13-3 record into the contest, while the Lady Blue Eagles are 17-1.

Clover played for the 5A state title last year, losing to Goose Creek 42-38 Schaffer has some concern about the Lady Eagles' experience in this game as well as having played for the crown last season.

"Anytime you're playing in a championship game like this, you're going to have some butterflies," he said. "In our case, we're young, but fortunately Ki (ara Croskey) has been in this situation the last couple of years in both the upper state and lower state title games, and, of course, Layken (Cox) too.

"They're very, very motivated right now," Schaffer said of Clover. "They came within four points of winning it last year. They're a very senior-dominated team, so I'm sure they're going to walk in with something of a chip on their shoulders, thinking they should have won one last year, and they need to do it this year."

Sumter has been dominant defensively all season. The Lady Gamecocks have allowed 40 or more points in just three games. Sumter is allowing just 28.3 points per contest and has eight games in which it has allowed less than 30 points. Fous of those were less than 20 points.

Schaffer hopes that the Lady Gamecocks' defensive prowess will help it in overcoming any jitters in the early going.

"I always tell my kids, you shouldn't be nervous playing defense," Schaffer said. "You've got four teammates there with you doing the same thing. I understand being nervous on offense on offense for a couple of possession, but on the defensive end you should never be nervous. We've been hanging our hat all year long on our ability to play defense, so we're just going to have to do that and get in the flow of the game and kind of get those pre-game jitters out of the way."