Ashley girls basketball falls to Garner in 4A East final

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The most successful girls basketball season in Ashley’s 20-year history came to a close in agonizing fashion Tuesday night.

Senior standout Saniya Rivers, the greatest athlete to ever put on a Screaming Eagles jersey, scored 37 points in her final high school contest, but No. 1 Ashley suffered a 73-67 loss to No. 6 Garner.

“One of the things I told the girls in the locker room is that the effort and energy was there,” said Adrienne Gale, who has been Ashley’s coach since the school opened in 2001. “I never get upset with them about those two things, because they bring that all the time. The execution of a couple things was off and Garner was just the better team tonight.”

The Screaming Eagles (15-2) previously reached the Elite 8 twice (2003 and 2020), but this was the program’s first trip to the Final 4.

Rivers scored seven quick points to get the home team off to a fast start, but she was whistled for her second foul with 3:37 left in the opening quarter. Her third foul came with with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter, but she never went to the bench.

Instead of playing her usual aggressive defense at the top of the zone, Rivers was forced to the bottom and couldn’t challenge shots like she normally does.

That allowed Garner (17-0) to get quality looks in the half court, while also capitalizing on Ashley’s costly turnovers. They finished with 16 that led to 18 points.

The game was tied at 37-all at halftime with Rivers leading the way with 27 points, but she was held to only 10 over the final 16 minutes.

“I told my team that we weren’t going to stop her, but we could make her uncomfortable,” Garner coach William Stigler said. “We tried to put a little pressure on her and funnel her to one side, because in the middle she’s unstoppable.”

Junior guard Jerni Kiaku took over for the Trojans in the third quarter by scoring 16 points to put the visitors on top 57-49. 

Garner’s advantage grew to 10 following a fastbreak layup from Nyah Wilkins, but the Screaming Eagles never quit fighting.

A jumper from Rivers and a layup from Brynn Little closed the gap to 63-61 with 2:31 to play. Kiaku answered with a layup on the other end, but Ashley countered with a huge 3-pointer from Lexi Hinson to make it 65-64. Moments earlier, Hinson was writhing in pain on the court with a leg cramp.

Unfortunately, Ashley wasn’t able to get the stop it needed. Kiaku increased the advantage back to 67-64 with a pair of free throws, and she converted another layup following a pair of missed shots from the Screaming Eagles.

Hinson drained a 3-pointer to get Ashley to within four with 28.8 seconds left, but they were unable to grab a rebound off a missed free throw and Kiaku buried two more free throws to put the game out of reach.

Kiaku scored 25 of her game-high 38 points in the second half. She also finished with seven rebounds and five steals. Wilkins added 11 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

Garner ended a 14-year playoff drought in 2019 and they advanced to the second round a season ago. Now, they are in the state title game for the first time since 1979. The Trojans last won the title a year earlier.

No public school team from Wilmington has ever played for a championship.

“It was going to be a long bus ride home if we lost,” Kiaku said. “I’ve been playing with a lot of these girls since we were 11 or 12 and before we got here this was our goal. We talked about this many summer nights at sleepovers. To be here with them is a blessing.”

Hinson finished with 13 points and Little added 12 in their final game with the Screaming Eagles.

Keyanna Stewart, Tiara David and Lauryn Craig will also graduate. The senior class put together back-to-back outstanding seasons that featured Mideastern Conference titles and deep playoff runs.

“They’ve got to be proud of themselves,” Gale said. “We had a huge win Saturday night to make history. I’m pleased with what they accomplished. Whether I coached them for four years or only one or two years, they were a special group that had a lot of fun together and worked hard.”