Andrew Jackson Focused On Repeat With 96-33 Dominating Win Over Lake City To Win AA Lower State Basketball Championship
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Florence—On the way to “Repeat Status” in SCHSL AA girls’ basketball, the Andrew Jackson Lady Volunteers are the definition of “consistency and focus” and they showed that once again in a 96-33 win over Lake City in the Lower State championship game played at the Florence Civic Center on Tuesday (March,4).
Andrew Jackson will now face Eau Claire, after their upset winner over Clinton on Tuesday at noon on Tuesday (March, 4th) at the Florence Civic Center.
After the big win AJ head coach Steven Fair, a graduate of the school where he coaches, told reporters, “We try to make practice harder than a game,” said Coach Fair. “The girl’s show up every day and they put the work in and here we are the results of the fruits of our labor. These kids have bought in to what we are trying to do and what we are trying to accomplish as a program. It just gets better and better every time we step out on the court.
“It’s like a family,” said Coach Fair. “Every day at practice everybody gets along with no issues. I am just happy to be a part of it. Those girls make it like a family type atmosphere. They go out and hang out together; go bowling. They do a lot of things together and that makes it easier for us as coaches to do our job.”
In reference to senior star player Tamia Watkins, Coach Fair responded, “She has been what she is doing now since the 7th grade,” he said. “She has been a part of the varsity program since the 7th grade. She left and went to Legion Collegiate, and came back, and we are so blessed to have her back.”
AJ was led against Lake City by 2024-25 HSSR Miss Basketball candidate Tamia Watkins (6-2) who came into the game averaging 30.1 points, 14.3 rebounds, 5.3 steals, 3.3 assists and two blocks a game. Talk about consistently, Watkins scored 33 points in the game and dominated the boards with over 12 rebounds and she had a team high 8 assists.
The Elon College signee is likely one of the biggest misses by some ACC/SEC schools in recent memory, and the HSSR predicts she will be in the transfer portal shortly after her freshman season is over. Watkins can play all five positions. She dribbles like a point guard and her foot-work, around the basket, deserves a five-star rating. Watkins is shooting 57 per cent from the field.
Against Lake City, Junior guard Ni’Yonna Asbelle scored 24 points with 9 rebounds and six assists, while 5-8 junior shooting guard Trinity Delly scored 15 points with five rebounds and four assists. Senior Emily McCall had 9 points and six assists.
AJ also got point production from 8th grader Alexa Fair with four points while senior Tiara Know contributed three points. Syraiah Blair, Leah Shropshire, Haven Jordan, and Dream Jones rounded out AJ’s scoring with two points each.
The Panthers should not feel bad about scoring only 33 points against Andrew Jackson. During the 2024-25 season to date, 18 other teams scored 33 or fewer points against the AA power house. One team got beat 104 to 8!
The Panthers were led in scoring by 8th grade guard Hannah Riles with 14 points. She came into the game averaging 12.1 points. Junior Na’Shira Starks (Six-foot) added 8 points while Kailey Graham contributed four points. Junior Trayana Burgess scored three points while junior Jada Robinson and Brianna Shaw each had two points.
Lake City is head coached by Shaquetta Cooper.
