SFCS Varsity Women Go From Four Wins To The Final Four!

          March 2, 2010 - The book was closed on a very special season Friday, February 26, for the Shannon Forest Christian School (SFCS) Varsity Lady Crusaders. The team fell in the Final Four round of the 2009/2010 NCISAA 1A State Playoffs to Wayne Country Day 57-44. It was a bitter ending to a great season, due to the fact the Lady Crusaders had defeated Wayne Country Day 42-34 to open the season.
         The Lady Crusaders entered the tourney field seeded 11th and had advanced by beating the #6 seed Cape Fear by 52-44. SFCS then beat the #3 seed Oakwood School 58-48 in an overtime thriller. The Final Four appearance for the Lady Crusaders was the second time in SFCS history that a team had advanced this far in the state basketball playoffs.
         The Lady Crusaders used a balanced scoring attack to defeat Cape Fear with Ree Byrd leading the way with 15 points and 15 rebounds followed by 12 points and 4 assists from Sadie Connor, 10 points and 8 assists from Katie Harrell and 8 points from Sarah Thackston. Catherine Funk also pulled down 13 rebounds against Cape Fear.
         Against a very talented Oakwood team, the Lady Crusaders fought through several hurdles to win and advance to the Final Four. SFCS was counted out by most in attendance, trailing by 6 points with one minute left to play. The Lady Crusaders dug deep, as they had all year, and made three baskets in a row to tie the game at 44 after forcing Oakwood to commit three consecutive turnovers to force the OT period. The Lady Crusaders owned the extra period outscoring Oakwood 14-4 to win 58-48. Byrd led the way with 26 points and 16 rebounds. Harrell added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists while Funk pulled down 10 rebounds.
        In the Final Four match-up, it appeared that the Lady Crusaders would advance to the championship game for the first time, but foul trouble got the best of the team and Wayne Country Day was able to defeat the Lady Crusaders 57-44. Byrd again led the Crusaders with 21 points. "All in all it was a great season - after only winning four games last season we finished 13-11 and advanced to the Final Four this season," remarked Head Coach Robert Hawthorne. "We will have a great opportunity to do even better next year as we will only lose one player, Sarah Thackston, who we will miss dearly," added Hawthorne. "Sarah brought so many intangibles to our team - she is tough as nails, has a great heart and has the courage of a lion. As a coach you long to have a player like her on your team every season. For the other girls that will return next season, they now have a taste of what the big stage is all about and I'm sure they'll work very hard to surpass their accomplishments of this season."