Dillon’s Lady Wildcats earned a 66-50 win over the Lake Marion Gators in the first round of the Class 2A Lower State girls basketball playoffs.

The Wildcats got on the board first, but the Gators came out strong as well, scoring seven points early on. Dillon’s Khamele Manning scored two points and Dakerhia Samuel sank two free throws to tie the game 7-7 with 2:31 left in the quarter. Lake Marion pulled ahead again and lead 12-7 with a minute to go. The Wildcats called a time out, but when the game resumed, Lake Marion pulled ahead 16-7 to end the quarter.

Dillon rallied in the second to take the lead, starting with a free throw from Nakedra Page. Tyshanna Lester sank a two-pointer to put the Wildcats down 19-10 with four minutes left in the half, and later drove the length of the court to lay in another two-pointer. Brianna Lee sank a three-point shot to leave Dillon trailing 19-17, and Lester pulled up for two-points to tie the game 19-19. Dakerhia Samuel laid in an easy two points with an assist from Lester, and Manning hit a three-pointer to give the Lady Wildcats a 24-19 lead. Samuel was then fouled on an easy layup and sank both free throws to put Dillon ahead 28-20 at the half, with the Wildcats outscoring Lake Marion 21-4 in the second quarter.

Dillon kept the lead in the third, with Manning sinking a two-pointer to keep Dillon up at 30-24. Page scored another easy layup and Manning added another two-pointer on the way to a 37-29 lead, and Lee sank a long, back-to-back three-pointers followed by another easy layup from Lester to put Dillon ahead 48-34. Shar’Asia Samuel sank a two-pointer for the Wildcats with less than six minutes remaining to put Dillon ahead 52-40, and the Lady Wildcats added six points in the final minute to claim the 66-50 win.

Tyshanna Lester scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Wildcats, with Brianna Lee adding 12 and Khamele Manning scoring nine. Dakerhia Samuel and Shymya Sowells each added six points in the win and Yolanda Campbell earned five, with Shar’Asia Samuel and Cali McRae each contributing three points in the win.

Lake Marion was led by Carmen Robinson with 11 points and Marquya Paison with eight.

Dillon improved to 17-6 with the win while Lake Marion finishes the season with a 13-12 record. The Lady Wildcats were ranked tenth in the final Class 2A poll by the SCBCA.

Dillon advanced to the second round of playoffs on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. The Lady Wildcats will be on the road to face Region 7-2A champ Lake City. The Lady Panthers are 19-3 overall this season and defeated Waccamaw 60-33 in the first round.

The winner of Friday’s game will advance to the third round on Tuesday, February 19, to face the winner of Friday’s Kingstree at Mullins game.

Photos by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD. Click images below to view at full size!