Berkeley tops Greenwood 60-54 to win AAAAA Division II girls basketball state title

        Florence – The first AAAAA Division II girls basketball state champion was crowned on Saturday at Florence Center. And the first champion is an older school that won the first state title in program history.

       Berkeley High School wrestled control of the game away from Greenwood in the waning minutes of an exciting back-and-forth affair that ended in a 60-54 triumph.

       “The fact we were able to put some numbers on the banner for (winning) Lower State (for the first time ever) and then the state championship is tremendous,” said Stags hed coach Crystal Peace, who is a native of Moncks Corner where Berkeley opened in 1912. “You’re in the middle of a lot of history being made.”

       BHS finished the season with a 24-4 record, while the Eagles, who won the Upper State crown, finished with an 18-10 record.

“It’s pretty exciting,” sophomore forward Amani McCray said of winning state. “I think we all kind of felt we were going to get here. That’s because of all the work that we put in.”

       The game was a tight one from beginning to end. GHS led by a point at the end of the first quarter and at halftime, 12-11 and 32-31, respectively. The Eagles managed to “expand” the lead after three quarters, taking a 45-42 advantage into the final eight minutes.

       And the tenacity and intensity of the game grew even greater down the stretch. Greenwood had the alternate possession to start the fourth quarter and immediately turned the ball over. Berkeley’s Madison Thomas drained a 3-point basket to tie the game just 26 seconds into the final stanza.

       Imani Levey hit one of two free throws to give the Stags a 46-45 lead beore Greenwood’s Danielle Oliver sank a trey to make it 48-46. A basket by BHS freshman guard Alaina Carter tied the game at 48-48 before Tykeria Johnson sank a jumper to make it 50-48 in favor of the Eagles with 5:26 tyo go.

       Thomas tied the game at 50 with a basket before Oliver gave GHS its final lead at 52-50 with 4:41 remaining. This is when Berkeley took control of the game.

       Aiyanna Moses hit a jumper 15 secods to tie the game. Carter immediately came up with a steal out of the pressure defense and drove in for a layup with 4:17 left to give the Stags the lead for good at 54-52. After a couple of possession changes, Carter got loose and drained a 3 to make it 57-52 with 3:27 remaining.

       “The coaches told me to play good defense and it was an easy steal,” said Carter, who is in her second season as a starter, on the play that put BHS in the lead for good. “ I got lined up for the (3-point) shot and I was able to hit it.”

       There was no scoring for almost two minutes before Oliver came up with a steal and hit a layup to make it 57-54 with 1:45 left. Greenwood grabbed the rebound after a quick shot by BHS, but it missed two shots. McCray hit a jumper with 34 seconds left to make it 59-54.

       “We missed some defensive assignments down the stretch that we failed to make,” said GHS head coach LaShonda Chiles. ”They were able to pull away and get the cushion they needed.”

       A Moses free throw with four seconds left accounted for the final margin – and the largest lead by either team – of the game.

       Peace said her team was able to step up on both ends of the floor down the stretch.

       “We had to hit some shots down the stretch,” said Peace, who just completed her 14^th season as Berkeley head coach. “We let their shooters off a bit too much for my liking, especially in the first half. They missed a couple of shots down the stretch, we were able to get the rebounds and take care of the basketball.

“I fussed a good bit at halftime about the way we played defense in the first half. We picked it up a bit in the second half.”

“The second half we knew who their players were so we just had to pay attention to them,” McCray said.

       McCray, a 5-foot-7-inch forward, had a double-double to lead the Stags. She had a team high 10 rebounds and shared the lead in points with 15 and assists with four. She also had two steals. She connected on 6 of 9 shots.

       Thomas also had 15 points, hitting on 6 of 13 shots, including 3 of 5 on 3-point attempts. She also had two steals. Carter was also 3-for-5 from behind the arc while finishing with 13 points. She also had three rebounds.

       Moses finished with seven points, four rebounds and four assists, while Demi Gray had six points. Levey had three points and Natalia Madison-Ladson had one point.

       Greenwood also had three players score in double figures. Danielle Oliver led the way with 22, connecting on three treys along the way. She also had a team high five steals to go with five rebounds.

       Johnson followed with 14 poits and a team high nine rebouns. Cameron Oliver finished with 13 poits to go with a team high three assists and two assists.

Camryn Fuller hd two ppoints and four rebounds, whle Nariah Carroll had two points. A’nya Johnson had one point.

       Fuller, Carroll, Mengeh Nyane and Zariah Hamilton are the only seniors on the Greenwood roster. That has Chiles thinking her squad could make a return.

       "Experience is the best teacher, so hopefully next time we’ll get a different outcome,” said Chiles, who said her team was easily playing its best in the postseason..

       The only thing is Berkeley has just two seniors in Riley Guerry nd Ta’Lia Porchia, The Stags are going to enjoy the fruits of their labor and then get back to the labor.

       “We’re going to embrace this moment a little bit then we’re going to get back to work," Peace said.