Dixon's 3 lifts Christ Church past Fox Creek 52-49 for AAA boys basketball title
Dennis Brunson hssr.com Aociate Editor • March 7, 2026
Cavaliers claim school's first ever AAA state championship since move
Columbia – Since Dr. James Naismith hung that first beach basket in 1891 in creating the game of basketball, billons upon billons of boys and girls have dreamed of hitting that game-winning shot to help his or her team claim a championship. Considering the sheer number of people who have acted out the sports fantasy, relatively few have actually experienced that thrill.
You can add Christ Church Episcopal School’s David Dixon to that list.
The 6-foot-5-inch Dixon drained a 3-point shot from the right corner with seven seconds remaining in the game and saw a trey from Fox Creek’s Kobe Sims come up short as the Cavaliers won the AAA boys state championship on Friday at Colonial Life Arena.
“It didn’t feel real,” said Dixon, a senior who ended up leading the Cavaliers in scoring with 12 points with his game-winning trifecta. “It was the biggest bucket ever of my career, no doubt.”
CCES finished the season with a 26-1 record. The triumph gave Christ Church its first ever South Carolina High School League AAA state championship in any sport since moving to the classification two years ago due to the multiplier rule.
“It means everything to me,” senior Reid Hipp said of winning the title, the program’s third in four years and fourth in six years. “It’s the first AAA championship in anything for our school. It’s remarkable.”
Hipp actually missed out on an opportunity to help improve CCES’ chances of winning when he missed two free throws with 33 seconds remaining in the game to leave the score at 49-46. The Predators’ Chanze Allen snagged the rebound. They quickly got the ball downcourt and found Keori Atwell wide open in the right corner. He too drained a 3 to tie the game at 49-49 with 25 seconds to go.
Both teams had one timeout left, but neither Christ Church head coach John Butler nor FC head coach Tim Butler chose to use it.
“I was there on the sideline, ‘Do I call a timeout or do I let them play,’ “ John Butler said. “You know the old philosophy if you call a timeout you let the defense get set. We always tell the shooters to get to the corners, the guards to get to the rim, and they did what we’ve practiced to do every day.”
After slowly retrieving the ball and initially struggling to get it inbounds, the Cavaliers pushed the ball up the floor. Hipp got the ball on the third pass. He was to the left of the basket about 15 feet out and had a defender on him. He saw a wide-open Dixon in the right corner in front of CCES’ home bench and got the ball to him. Dixon canned the trey with seven seconds to go.
“We were just getting the ball down the floor,” Hipp said. “I was thinking about putting it up myself, but I saw David and I knew David wasn’t going to miss that 3, so I got it to him.”
Fox Creek didn’t stop the clock, instead hurriedly pushing it up the floor. Sims did a great job of creating a 3-point opportunity at the top of the key, but the shot came up short as the buzzer sounded.
Fox Creek’s Butler said he was mistaken for not using the timeout after either one of the 3-pointers.
“I made some mistakes,” he said. “Those boys did everything they were asked to do for me all year long. Those are tremendous kids. I hate it for my seniors, but we’ll be back. I let them down tonight.”
Dixon, who was wise enough to get back on defense after hitting the basket, then did his celebrating. He sprinted to the other end of the court by the Christ Church bench with his teammates chasing him. When he finally ran out of room to run, the team jumped up and down in jubilation around him.
“Oh yeah, oh yeah, it felt good,” Dixon said o the winning bucket. “I was confident I had it. It means a lot. People dream about those moments all throughout their childhood, all throughout their careers.
“To hit that shot in the last game of my career, my last game playing for Coach Butler and winning a state championship, it was huge.”
Dixon’s make was the only one in four 3-point attempts. He snagged three rebounds and had two blocked shots.
Senior Jonathan Perry was the only other double-figure scorer for the Cavaliers, finishing with 10 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. However, CCES got plenty of points from other sources.
Hipp, also a senior, finished with nine points and six rebounds, Senior Anthony Atkins had eight points and seven rebounds, senior Jude Hall had eight points, four rebounds and two blocks, and freshman Ty Young had five points and three rebound.
Junior Randy Robinson led Fox Creek in both scoring and rebounding with 13 points and eght boards, respectively. Junior Justin Vining had nine points, while Atwell, a senior, finished with eight.
Sims and Allen, who were averaging a combined 27 points a game, were held to just 10 points. Allen had six points and seven rebounds, while Sims had four points, three assists and three rebounds.
Junior Chuck Schwarz had six points, six rebounds and two blocks, while senior Jason Rogers had three points.
There was a bit of back and forth in the early going of the game. However, Fox Creek began to open things up a bit. The Predators scored seven of the last eight points in the first quarter with a Robinson layup with three seconds left making it 19-12.
FC took its biggest lead of the game at 21-13 on a Schwarz layup with 5:39 left in the second quarter. It led 23-16 with 3:45 to go in the first half following a Vining layup.
Then it was practically nothing for a very long time.
Christ Church tied the game at 23-23 on a 3-pointer by Young just four seconds before halftime. Fox Creek actually scored the first bucket of the second half, an Atwell layup with 7:27 remaining in the third quarter.
The Predators didn’t score until Schwarz hit two free throws with 1:44 left in the third quarter. That meant they had gone 10 minutes of game clock scoring just two points.
“We just didn’t make shots,” Fox Creek’s Butler said. “We kind of got out of character a little bit. Shots we normally make, we didn’t make. A couple of shots could have made the difference.”
Christ Church’s Butler had a different view.
“What you saw was two good defensive teams going at each other,” he said.
Razorbacks use 11`-0 run in second quarter to take control of the game
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Columbia —After the High Point Academy Grizzlies (28-3) built a 17-10 first quarter lead over Philip Simmons, in the AA boys basketball title game, on the strength of consecutive three- point shots by Joc Miller, some March, 5 th observers on hand at the USC Colonial Life Arena were thinking it just might be the Grizzles day. After all, the Grizzles came into the title game averaging 71 points a game, so if their first quarter scoring pace had continued, they would have finished the game victorious with 68 points. On the other hand, Philip Simmons came into the finals averaging 58.9 points a game, so being held to just 10 points in the first period would have been a bad trend ending up with 40 points which might have led to a loss. In the end, the game trended more Philip Simmons way as the Iron Horses rallied for a 50-46 win. It was the first boys’ basketball championship in the 9- year history of the school located in Berkeley County. Philip Simmons head coach Garrett Campbell talked with the HSSR after the game. “Our plan was to take away the paint from them,” said Coach Garrett. “Their strength was number one scoring around the rim. Our plan was to pack it in and make them shoot from the outside. Our guys did a great job of sticking with game plan and following through. Coach Campbell praised the play of top senior scorers Hopper Afman and Dylan Morris . “Both of them are elite shooters, and their percentage is in the high 30’s on three- point shots,” said Coach Campbell. “They are also very good senior leaders on the team.” What were the adjustments at the half up by two points? “Our focus was to stop turning the ball over because that was the reason we got down early in the game,” said Coach Campbell. “Coming down on two feet, making good passes, boxing out, and staying under control were some things we stressed to the team at halftime. “They pressed us three different ways,” said Coach Campbell. “They used a man, a 1-2-2, and a 1-3-1 and we did a really good job against all of them. I felt like we did a good job of handling the press all game.” In conclusion, who was the step-up player for the Iron Horses? “Well, number five is our guy, Afman Hopper,” said Coach Campbell. “He’s an all-state player and he is our leader. He has had multiple 20-point games in the playoffs. Wherever we go, he takes us.” High Point Academy head coach Lee Sartor, known for being the head coach of Zion Williamson at Spartanburg Day a few years ago, shared his feelings after the tough loss. “Everybody plays us zone defense, and we knew that coming into the game,” said Coach Sarter. “Give them credit. They wanted a half-court game and we just kind of played into that. We didn’t make shots when we needed to and we didn’t push the ball when we needed to. Coach Sartor was not pleased with the difference in total fouls called on each team. His team had 19 fouls called on them resulting in 11 points for Philip Simmons while his team scored six points off of the 10 fouls called on the Iron Horses. “I just feel like you need to make calls both ways and at times I didn’t think that was the case,” said Coach Sartor. “I think at times in the game we were afraid to penetrate gaps in their zone defense and I do not know why this was the case,” said Coach Sartor.” To their credit when we did get the ball inside, they did a good job of covering us and again were there some fouls missed on the inside tonight? Regardless, we need to be able to play that contact.” Coch Sartor is very high on the potential next level opportunity of his 6-7 junior big man J’Sean Sanders . “He has a chance to be a major college basketball player if he continues to work hard,” said Coach Sartor. “The biggest thing with him, and lot of our players, is preparation. You are going to play like you practice so it is important to play the game as much as you can. “The road to getting here wasn’t easy,” said Coach Sartor. “In every playoff game it seemed like a different player stepped up for us and that is the mark of a good team. However, in this game things didn’t go our way at crucial times. I am proud of our effort and the fact that we have played for a state championship back-to-back. Our goal in the near future is to win one.: The Iron Horses won the second period 20-11 to take a 30-28 lead at the half. In the second period senior Hopper Afman hit the first three-point swish for Philip Simmons at the 6:50 mark and then senior teammate Dylan Morris hit consecutive moon shots cutting the deficit to 25-19 with 3:58 left in the first half. Then big man Jack Mevold scored in the paint to make the score 25-21. Next Morris bombed another three to cut the deficit to 25-24 and High Point called time-out to slow down the Iron Horse rally. By the half, Philip Simmons was up two points. After the first quarter, Philip Simmons played a very tight zone defense which limited High Point Academy’s big men from getting easy baskets in the paint. At the half, Morris was the top scorer for Philip Simmons with 11 points while Miller led the Grizzles with 10 points. The third period was a defensive battle with High Point Academy outscoring Philip Simmons 10-7 to take a narrow 38-37 lead into the final period. Afman scored a bucket at the 7:45 mark to put the Iron Horses up 39-38. Chris Copeland answered with a put-back basket to give the Grizzles a 40-39 lead with 7:10 left in the contest. Around this time, High Point Academy 6-7 big man J’Sean Sanders was called for his 4 th foul, and he went to the bench for nearly three minutes. While he was out, Philip Simmons had success driving to the basket and they led 44-41 with 1:56 left in the game. With three minutes left in the game Sanders returned to the Iron Horse line-up and he soon was whistled for what appeared to be his 5 th foul. However, High Point head coach Lee Sartor asked the person keeping the official book at the game if he had Sanders down for five fouls and he said, “only four.” Sanders was allowed to stay in the game and several Philip Simmons fans started touting Sanders, and Sanders actually gestured back to them (right or wrong). So, when Sanders picked up his true 5 th foul with 1:33 left, it sent Morris to the line with Philip Simmons up 44-41 on a driving lay-up by Hopper. With 1:32 left, Morris made both free throws to give his team a 46-41 lead. Miller then hit a three-point shot with 1:07 left to cut the deficit to 46-44. Palmer Driggers went to the foul line for the Iron Horses with 1:01 left and he converted one free throw to make the score 47-44. With 43.6 to go Travis Freeman of High Point converted two free throws to cut the deficit to 47-46. In the final 43.6 seconds of the game Philip Simmons got two free throws from Driggers with 16 seconds left to go up 49-46 and then with 2.8 seconds left Hopper got the last point of the game making one-of- two free throws. For the game, Philip Simmons was led on the scoring index by Hopper (15 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) along with Morris (13 pts, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, & 4 assists). Junior forward Jack Mevold added 9 points for the Iron Horses followed by Gavin Johnson (6 pts & 8 rebounds), Alex Tchoryk (4 pts), and Driggers rounded out the scoring with three points. High Point was led in scoring by Miller, a senior, with 15 points and five rebounds. Sanders, a junior, had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Seniors Deylin Whitaker and Chris Copeland each scored seven points for the Grizzles. Copeland also had a team high 12 rebounds. Breylin Pertell and Travis Freeman rounded out their team’s point totals with two- and one-point contributions. In just 9 years of existence Philip Simmons has now won 19 state titles in various sports which is quite an accomplishment over a short period of time.
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Columbia —The Landrum girl’s (25-7) basketball team built a 33-22 halftime lead over Atlantic Collegiate in the SCHSL AA championship game at the USC Colonial Life Center on March 5 th , and despite being outscored 21-12 in the second half, the Cardinals hung on to win their first ever girls state title 45-43. Landrum was led in scoring by 5-10 sophomore Delaney Caldwell with 19 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three blocked shots and two steals. The game had significant sentimental value for Landrum. In early February head coach Kali Koenig’s father, a devoted fan and supporter of the team, passed away. His memory was imbedded in the minds of every Landrum player during the game. Caldwell talked about “Kalvin Koenig” after the big win. “Winning today is even more meaningful because he meant so much to the team and he loved everyone of us,” said Caldwell. “He was up there (Heaven) cheering hard for us no doubt. We are proud to have won this game for him.” Caldwell, a truly special talent who transferred to Landrum from Spartanburg Christian this season, also talked about what it meant to have been a key reason Landrum won their first girls’ basketball championship ever. “This is an amazing feeling, and I am so thankful to God,” said Caldwell. “We played with grit today and we never gave up. We were all out there playing hard for each other.” Coach Koenig was just as excited after the game. “This win was amazing and I am speechless right now,” she said. “It is an awesome feeling right now. It has been a nice season and having Caldwell on the team has been a nice asset. The girls have accepted her with open arms, and she is an amazing teammate. I just love how my players put God first and I love how close they are. They want each other to do well, and it is not at all about them. “They just want to win and that is what we did today,” said Coach Koenig. “The second half was nerve racking and nail biting, but we got the job done. They worked so hard to accomplish what they did, and I am very proud of them.” In reference to her beloved father’s passing, Coach Koenig said, “My assistant coaches and players have gone through this grief together and that has been comforting,” said Coach Koenig. “I know he was cheering us on from heaven today and that is all I can ask for.” Landrum’s other scorers were senior Kylie Fortner with 10 points and sophomore point guard Emalynn Bright added seven points and seven rebounds. Junior Hazel Cain and 8 th grader Avery Caldwell each scored three points in the win. Freshman Leena Schembra contributed two points and senior forward Sullivan Price rounded out the scoring for the Cardinals with one point. Atlantic Collegiate (23-3), based in Conway, got point production from all 8 players who played in the game. The top scorer was led in scoring by senior wing Micah Davis with 13 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Sophomore guard DaZena Capers had 8 points, four rebounds and three. Freshman guard Erin Williams added seven points, five rebounds, and three steals during the game. Sophomore forward Angellina Collins added six points and five rebounds for The Armada. Junior guard Amanda Garza and sophomore forward Ashyra Willis scored three points while Willis also had five rebounds and two steals. The remaining points producers for The Armada included junior guard Zaniya Blackmon (2 pts & six steals), while junior guard Cayleigh Johnson closed out the scoring index with one point. After the game, Atlantic Collegiate Academy head coach Jordin Anderson told the HSSR, “This team has accomplished so much this season and I am very proud of them,” said Coach Anderson. “We are going to miss senior Micah Davis, and she has been the face of our program, and she is everything you can ask for in a leader and a captain. She is just an amazing athlete and an amazing person.” Down 9 points at the half, Coach Anderson made an important adjustment to her defense for the final two quarters. “We needed to get away from the man defense and use more zone in the second half because two of their best players were great outside shooters,” said Coach Anderson. “In the first quarter we were man the entire quarter. I do think we made the necessary adjustments we needed to in the second half, but we just came up a little short.” Down by two, with the ball Coach Anderson called time-out with 16.7 left in the game. “So, the play was supposed to be going for an easy lay-up to tie the score,” said Coach Anderson. “I do not know if some of the players were not paying attention or they saw something different as the play were happening. They were playing man defense, so the plan was to go for an easy lay-up. With everyone running around the three-point shot from the corner did not go in and the game was over. Some key team stats in the game were Landrum out-rebounding Atlantic Collegiate 44 to 33 with their height advantage. Both teams were 10-of18 from the free throw line. Atlantic Collegiate was 1 of 11 on three-point shots while Landrum made five of 25 three-point attempts.
Westwood senior Jayden Crews, 6-2 Point Guard, driving hard against Greenville in their 67-55 victory over Greenville in the 5AD2 State Title game.
Berkeley Girls senior Demi Gray driving for the basket as the Stags rally to defeat Greenville 54-50 to earn Class AAAAA Div 2 State Title.
By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Florence – Heading into Friday’s night 5A Division II lower state championship game you had one team that had been on this stage several times in Goose Creek and the other Westwood who was making their first appearance. The Gators of Goose Creek were the defending lower state champions and had designs on making their sixth trip to the state finals while Westwood was looking to make school history and reach their first state championship game. The Redhawks (24-3)made school history as they hung on for a 56-53 win over the Gators sending them to Colonial Life Arena where they will look to continue their historic run in the playoffs. They will take on defending 5A Division II state champion Greenville. The Red Raiders (23-6) defeated Riverside 55-48 to punch their ticket earning the chance to go back-to-back. “Once we settled down and got going and figure out the game we were fine. We feed off our defense and we were able to chip away and get the lead by halftime,” said Westwood head coach Trent Robinson. “ I’m so proud this group they have made history and we have reached new heights. Look over there they are so happy and I am going to let them celebrate. We are going to state.” The Gators ended the season at 26-3 but short of their goal of returning to the state championship game. “I’m disappointed for that group. I wanted the seniors to get another chance at a championship. I have had these guys for a lot of years and I feel like I raised all of them. I love those guys and I could not have asked for more from them. They gave me everything and I’m proud of them,” said Goose Creek head coach Blake Hall. “Unfortunately, this is the nature of the beast when you get this far.” The game started well for both teams as they relied on their strengths. The Gators hit five three-pointers with Ja'Quell Brown hitting all three of his attempts and scoring 11 points in the quarter. Brandon Grant chipped in 9 points. The Redhawks pounded the ball inside and were led by Ariel Huell with six points in the quarter. The quarter ended with the Gators on top 23-16. The second quarter saw the Gator’s increase their lead to 28-20 without Brown or Grant scoring before the Redhawks made a charge. Down by 8, Quentin McGill would start what would be a 12-2 run to end the quarter with a drive to the basket for two-points. Cylan Mcleod gave the Redhawks the lead at 30-28 when he hit their only three-pointer of the night. He would end the quarter by making two free throws and the Redhawks headed to the half up 32-30. Daytron Cockfield would score six points and Mcleod added five as Westwood increased their lead to 46-41 by outscoring the Gators 14-11. The fourth quarter saw the Redhawks stretch the lead to seven at 48-41 before the Gators began to chip at the lead and tied it at 50 when Brown hit his first three-pointer since the first quarter. McGil would give the Rehawks the lead for good as he hit an inside shot with under two-minutes to go for 52-50 lead. D'marcus Thomas would finish it at the line for Westwood as he scored an old fashioned three point play and hit a three free throws to keep the Gators at bay and send his team to the state finals. Westwood was led by Mcleod with 12 points and Cockfield with 10. Jayden Crews and Thomas chipped in with 9 and 8 points, respectively. Brown led the Gators and all scorers with 17 points while Brown finished with 10. Idreyiss Hoist and Reggie Dozier III added 8 and 9 points.
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Sumter —Having defeated Florence Christian 37-25 back in mid- December, the Orangeburg Prep (22-5) girls were favored to win the SCISA AAA girls’ basketball title when the same two teams met at the Sumter Civic Center on Feb., 28. with much more on the line. Florence Christian led 19-14 at the half, while O-P rallied in the third period to cut the deficit to 28-26 starting the final period. However, the Eagles outscored the Indians 14-9 in the final period to win the state title 42-35. After the game, Florence Christian head coach Neil Minton was asked about his team’s improvement over the past two months. “It has all been the result of hard work, determination, and we just kept getting after it,” said Coach Minton. “I am so proud of my team, and I would like to go celebrate with them after you guys quit talking to me. “One of our key players today was Emerson Poston and she is the best and such a great kid, she’s a great person, and she is a great leader,” said Coach Minton. “She played very well on both sides of the ball today.” (Poston led the Eagles with 19 points in the title game after averaging 11.6 points during the season). What was the major difference in the team that could only muster 25 points in a loss to the Indians earlier, versus the team that put 42 points on the score sheet to win a state title? “We grew throughout the season,” said Coach Minton. “We had more bench players being able to play today and contributing positive minutes. “We had more people playing with confidence and they were stronger with the ball,” said Coach Minton. “All the little stuff we worked on helped us improve and we rely on our defense. I thought we played great half-court defense today.” Coch Minton gave a shout-out to his three senior starters who will be moving on. “ Leah Lambert is one of our unsung heroes and she is one of the better passing Post players around,” said Coach Minton. “She really knows the game, and she played really strong today. “Senior Anna Kate Huggins is one of our most important players defensively as Emerson is to us offensively,” said Coach Minton. “She sets the tone for us on defense. “ Demi Green is our third senior starter who is also a good leader and she plays well on both sides of the ball also,” said Coach Minton. Coach Minton said he talked about a key adjustment the team needed to make at the half when the Eagles had a 19-14 lead. “I felt like if we could make our lead a little bigger, it would eventually force them out of their triangle and two defense, and other zone defenses, and it would give us a little more room to work our offense. “However, it was important that Bailey Johnson , Charlotte Granger , and Demi Green also hit shots against that triangle and two defenses that we faced,” said Coach Minton. “We also did a better job of getting the ball in the middle of their press break.” Coach Minton, who is also the head football coach at Florence Christian now has four state titles in football and basketball over a 25-year coaching career. After a long post- game meeting with her hard-working team, veteran O-P head coach Jan Stoudenmire emerged with tears in her eyes. “We didn’t play very well today, and we have not been held to 35 points all year,” said Coach Stoudenmire. We just could not get the ball to go into the basket and that is what happened. “We made a few mental mistakes also, but you can’t take anything away from them,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “They have a great team, and a great coach, and they played hard and you could tell that they wanted to win a lot more than we did. “We got here and I am very proud of that and the hard work from our team all season,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “No one thought we would be back to the championship game this year, and our team is like a big family. They are going to come out of this bigger than life and they will be alright. “Most of the players on this team came to me as 5 th graders in our feeder programs and we have watched them grow, develop, and even make mistakes,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “We watch them do great things on and off the court also. I feel blessed and so fortunate to be able to coach them and I am proud of every player on this team. “We’ll keep working hard and trust me we will be back next season,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “We are not going anywhere.” Coach Stoudenmire said the focus on half-time adjustments was centered around the team shooting better in the second half. “We missed some shots we usually make so we talked about getting good looks on offense and getting the ball to go in the basket,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “Their match-up zone defense played well against our offense too.” Coach Stoudenmire cited the defensive play of senior leader Preston Schurlknight who will be joining her older sister in the Lander College softball program next season. “Preston was all over the court tonight, busting her behind on defense, and she is such an amazing kid. She does so many things on the court that never shows up in a stats box. “I’ll be coaching the softball team this Spring, and I can’t wait to see her on the softball field,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “With her leadership and talent, we are hoping to make a deep run in softball also. “We have a great group of seniors to go along with Preston,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “ Hannah Lambrecht has been on the team for a long time, and she has been one of our key leadership players the past two seasons. She is very good with the ball in her hands and runs the point very well. Our other two seniors are Jayme Culler and Kate Holstein , and they have all helped lay a good foundation for the program going forward.” Junior guard Mary Legare Delaney led the Indians with 15 points in the state championship game. “Mary has picked up where her older sister left off in our program, and she played well last year as a sophomore,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “We are very excited about having her back next season.” Beyond Delaney’s 15 points, Schurlknight had seven points for OP against the Eagles while Lambrecht and Culler contributed four points each. Holstein finished with three points also. Behind Poston’s 19 points for the Eagles were Johnson (8), Granger (5), Lambert (4), Huggins (3), and Green (3). The SCISA AAA girl’s all- tournament team included Schurknight and Delaney from O-P along with Johnson, Huggins, and Poston from Florence Christian. The other member was Kylee Finley from St. Johns Christian.
Generals pull off 3-peat despite losing four starters and eight seniors from last year's squad
By WORTHY EVANS CONTRIBUTING WRITER FLORENCE — The Keenan girls basketball team got off to a hot defensive start and didn’t let up on Oceanside Collegiate throughout their 3A upper state championship game Saturday afternoon at the Florence Center . Led by sophomore and 3A Player of the Year Taelor Lee-Sutton senior Aareonna Caughman , the Raiders jumped to a 16-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and carried on to a 62-43 victory over the Landsharks. Keenan (20-6) plays upper-state champion Walhalla for the 3A state championship at the Colonial Life Arena Friday at 2 p.m. The Razorbacks (25-2) beat St. Joseph’s Catholic 60-53 in the upper-state championship Saturday night. Friday’s matchup is the seventh appearance for the Raiders in the state final. Keenan’s last title came in 2022, the Raiders’ last state crown in the MiLaysia Fulwiley era in which Keenan won four state titles in five years. Head coach Reggie McClain said last year’s defeat was principal in motivating the team. “They had beaten us. We came up with a good defensive plan and they executed and jumped on them early.” McClain also said the outcome rested on his seniors desire for getting to the final game of the year. “This group hadn’t been there,” McClain said. “My seniors were freshman when we lost in the fourth round (to Gray Collegiate in 2023). We talked about that for the last two or three years. We ended up losing in the third round last year so this was our last chance for our seniors to go to state.” Saturday’s game was also a revenge game for the Raiders. Last year Oceanside (21-4) eliminated Keenan 55-41 in the third round. The difference this year was defense, Lee-Sutton said. “Last year we didn’t play good man (defense) but this year we did play good man,” she said. “they couldn’t handle the ball very well and we put pressure on them, got us some steals and scored baskets.” Lee-Sutton scored 18 points, with many opportunities coming in transition. Oceanside focused heavily on defending Lee-Sutton in the first half, and she had just one basket in the first quarter and four points in the second quarter. Keenan’s attack wasn’t stymied, as Caughman scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half. Caughman also had 12 rebounds. “I knew I was going to step up and perform very well,” Caughman said. “like she (Lee-Sutton) said, we lost in the third round last year so we really wanted this game.” The Raiders desire to earn their 10 th state championship appearance in school history was rewarded in the second half. With Keenan up 30-19 going into the third quarter, Lee-Sutton opened the scoring with three straight baskets, the last one a 3-pointer coming off a Caughman steal and assist, to go up 37-19. Back-to-back buckets from Zaria Mines and Caughman—both coming off Lee-Sutton steals—put the Raiders up 51-31 by third quarter’s end. Keenan led by as much as 25 points after Khloe Williams made a putback for a 62-37 lead with 1:51 left. Oceanside got seven straight points in the final stretch with a free throw and a basket from Henly Hanks , and baskets from Ella Hunter and Sadie Rice . Hanks led the Landsharks with 13 points. A big motivation for the team reaching the final was that the state championships series is back at the Colonial Life Arena after a long absence. “That’s been the motivation,” he said. “I told them it’s right in our backyard and I told them we got to get there. So they’ve been fighting and trying to get there since.”
BY WORTHY EVANS CONTRIBUTING WRITER FLORENCE — Saturday’s 3A lower state championship game at the Florence Center marked the fourth time Fox Creek and Keenan played each other this season. For the third time in the four meetings, the Predators got the best of the defending 3A champion Raiders in a 75-68 victory. Fox Creek (25-5) plays Christ Church for the 3A state championship at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia Friday at 3:30 p.m. Christ Church beat Mountain View Prep 61-47 for the upper state championship Friday night. Five Fox Creek players scored in double figures, with junior Justin Vining leading the way with 18 points. Junior Randy Robinson had 13 points, junior Chuck Schwarz scored 12 points, and seniors Chanze Allen and Keori Atwell had 11 points apiece. “Randy Robinson had a great first quarter, a great first four minutes of the game,” second-year head coach Tim Butler said. “Justin Vining is an incredible point guard, I don’t think he can get enough credit. I wanted to go deeper on the bench but the guys got so hot I couldn’t really go into it. Our seniors and juniors and these guys put their egos aside and came into one. I just love this group.” Those starters felt the heat themselves from the red-hot shooting of Keenan sophomore Antoine Caughman , who had 22 points before fouling out with 5:25 left. Senior Broderick Anderson Jr. and junior Marcus Simpson Jr. had 13 points. While Fox Creek maintained a steady lead throughout the game, the opponents’ familiarity with one another kept the Raiders within striking distance. “It’s incredibly difficult,” Butler said about facing a rival for the fourth time. “Those guys came with a different look and we weren’t prepared for it for a little bit, and they also hit some good shots, some big shots. We thought that when No.4 fouled out, they were going to go away, but they never did. That’s a testament to their coaching staff and their focus. That’s a great team.” Even though the game’s top scorer was on the bench and Fox Creek led 57-46 at the time, the Raiders managed a 10-1 scoring run late in the game. That run brought Keenan from being behind 64-51 at the 2:02 mark to a 65-61 deficit with 1:02 left to play. Only a late technical foul called after a personal foul disrupted Keenan’s rally. Those errors brought Allen to the line for both sets of foul shots and he made all four to give the Predators a 69-61 lead. Keenan was still not finished. In the final 37 seconds the Raiders got a 3-pointer and two additional baskets from Anderson to make it 71-68 with 11 seconds left. By then the Raiders were forced to foul to stop the clock, and Vining and Kobe Sims were both 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to close out the win. “That’s a well-coached team,” Butler said. Coach Zach Norris does a great job and those kids are incredible talents and basketball players. They’re all probably going to play college basketball, and they just never quit.” Coach Norris was not on the court after being suspended from coaching for a rules violation last summer. Assistant Alex Harper , who was the acting head coach this season, said he last talked to Norris before the game. He said Norris talked about will and desire to be the intangible factors of the game. “Will and desire. Just trying to get the kids on the same level,” Harper said. “Whatever team wants it most is going to win, and that’s pretty much what it came down to, will and desire. (Because of Norris’ suspension), I feel like everybody counted us out but we still made a push. We still had a chance to make it, we just didn’t get over that hump.” Harper added that his team’s fouls hurt the Raiders chances of victory. “We talked about it all season, we have to play without fouls,” Harper said. “I’m not going to say it’s the ref’s fault, but we just had to play without fouls and that’s not what we did today.” The Predators indeed capitalized on their many trips to the foul line. Fox Creek was 9-for-11 from the foul line in the first half, and a whopping 27-for-33 in the second half for a total of 34-of-44 for the game. Keenan by contrast was 6-for-9 from the free-throw line in the first half and 12-for-14 in the second half for an 18-for-23 total. Being doubled up on foul shots hurt the Raiders’ ability to overcome the Predators, who led 35-25 at the half. “It goes back to you’ve got to play without fouling,” Harper said. “They were able to build a 10-point lead on us in the first half just with us fouling.” The Predators join 4A lower-state champion North Augusta in the action this week at Colonial Life Arena. The Yellow Jackets (26-3) beat Bluffton 57-38 Saturday to play South Pointe in the 4A state final Saturday at 6. “North Augusta gets a lot of credit, they’re a great, well-coached team,” Butler said. “But now we’ve got two teams from North Augusta to get to play for a state championship, and it’s a great feeling.”