By WORTHY EVANS
HSSR Contributing Writer
Columbia - Hammond School's boys and girls basketball teams saw their season come to an end in the SCISA 4A basketball tournament Feb. 19-24.
The Hammond boys beat Ben Lippen 59-55 in the opener at the Sumter Civic Center Feb. 19, but on Feb. 21 Cardinal Newman rallied past the Skyhawks (14-9) 51-43. The Cardinals eventually beat Augusta Christian 71-61 Feb. 23 for their 10th state championship and first in Class 4A.
Hammond had a 6-point lead on Cardinal Newman late in the third quarter, but Cardinal Newman outscored the Skyhawks 25-11 from there to the final buzzer.
The Skyhawks led 15-11 after the first quarter, but Cardinal Newman took the lead by the end of the second quarter—before Mike Tyler’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Hammond a 26-24 lead at intermission.
The Skyhawks held a 32-26 lead by the 3:11 mark of the third quarter. Cardinal Newman freshman Luis Echevarria came off the bench and sank three 3-pointers to close out the third, and drained a fourth 3 early in the fourth quarter to put the Cardinals ahead for good.
Juniors Mike Tyler and Jaiden Haltiwanger had 10 points apiece to lead Hammond, which loses no players to graduation this year. The team roster includes seven juniors, a sophomore and two freshmen.
Like the boys, the Hammond girls (15-6) reached the second round of the tournament, with a 62-44 win over Augusta Christian Feb. 19. And like the boys, the Skyhawks found an exit Feb. 21, with a 57-41 loss to Northwood Academy.
Unlike the boys, the Hammond girls fell behind from the start as Northwood led the game wire-to-wire.
“You gotta put the ball in the hole. We struggled with that today,” Hammond head coach Roshan Myers told the Columbia Star. “We had a lot of turnovers, a lot of forced turnovers, and we didn’t convert on the easy baskets and we missed quite a few free throws, so we were never really able to catch any momentum. Northwood, give them credit, they came out with a great defensive scheme and executed well.”
Northwood (26-3) went on to battle Heathwood Hall for the 4A state championship Feb. 23. The Highlanders bested the Chargers 58-56 for their second straight state title.
Senior Samira Khalil scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Skyhawks. Senior Anna Katherine Adams added 10.
Khalil and Adams are two of the team’s five seniors that include Rebecca Waites, Kayce Hyman, and Lauren Vincent.
“Those five girls have been great contributors to the team, so you know it’s going to be tough moving on without them,” Myers said. “They’re all going to go on. KC will play in college, Samirra will play in college, and the other ladies will go to college and have fun and be professionals. For the most part it’s bittersweet. When you lose some of your kids and you’ve known them for so long, you watch them grow up. Rebecca and AK have been here since the sixth grade, so I’ve seen them develop from middle school all the way up to seniors in high school.”
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