Berkeley High School’s girls basketball team is a region champion for the first time in 22 years.
The Lady Stags finished atop the Region 7-5A standings this winter, officially wrapping up first place in the league with a victory over Cane Bay High School Wednesday, Feb. 12. Berkeley is 19-4 overall and 8-1 in the league going into its final regular season game Friday, Feb. 14, at Lucy Beckham (after press time).
“Regardless of opponent or not, nothing changes regarding energy and playing good defense,” Berkeley coach Crystal Peace said. “I’m still stuck on one game at a time. We don’t look past anybody. We’ve still got some stuff to correct.”
The Class 5A Div. II playoffs open Monday, Feb. 17, and the Stags receive a first-round bye. The curtains come up on the postseason for the Stags Thursday, Feb. 20, in the second round.
Berkeley has plenty momentum as the postseason arrives. Peace’s team has been on a tear since suffering its lone blemish in region play at home against Goose Creek, 49-48, back on Jan. 14. Included in the stretch is a 56-28 win at Goose Creek in the rematch Tuesday, Feb. 4.
Along the way, Berkeley also edged region runner-up Wando High School twice by single digits and racked up plenty blowouts.
“Basketball is 80- to 90-percent mental,” Peace said. “That (Goose Creek) game there was a huge mental aspect for the majority of the girls. We had heart-to-heart conversations with some of them and just told them to refocus. We weren’t living for one game. You just have to learn from it and don’t repeat the same mistakes.”
The Lady Stags are ranked No. 3 by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association.
Freshman guard Alaina Carter leads Berkeley on the scoreboard at 12.6 points per game, followed by junior guard Demi Gray, sophomore forward Amani McCray, junior guard Aiyanna Moses and sophomore forward Imani Levey at around seven to eight points per game. McCray is the top rebounder at 6.9 boards per game, while Moses leads in steals and assists.