PHOTOS: Andrew Jackson vs Lee - Game 1

AAAAA Max Stafford, Summerville, 155 yards passing, TD Jayven Williams, Summerville, 110 yards rushing, TD Cam Grayson, Summerville, 4 rushing TD Nate Beaver, Summerville, 33-yard field goal, 8 PAT, 6 touchbacks Jack LaMonica, Lucy Beckham, 138 yards rushing, 3 TD Connor Dantzler, James Island, 246 yards passing, 3 TD Raph Puiu, James Island, 4 receptions, 87 yards, 1 TD Darius Carter, River Bluff, 6 rec, 168 yds, 3 TD Hayden Myers, River Bluff, 156 yds rush Jarkese Grant, Lugoff-Elgin, 5 TD rush Tyrese Drakeford, Westwood, 3 interceptions Jonah Young, Rock Hill, 142 yds pass, TD Josiah Hill, Gaffney, 140 yds rush, 3 TD Peyton Schrader, Eastside, 173 yds pass, TD; 63 yds rush Zyon Ratchford, Gaffney, 12 tackles, TFL Trey Burke, Spartanburg, 227 yds pass, 3 TD Trenton Lynch, Spartanburg, 115 yds rush, 2 TD AAAA Will Donato, Bishop England, 188 yards passing, TD Brooks Dew, Pickens, 194 yds pass, TD Cam Wilson, Pickens, 8 rec, 128 yds, TD Bear Woods, Westside, 111 yds pass, 2 TD Keylan Powell, Westside, 200 yds rush, 2 TD Trevon Williamson, Gray Collegiate, 222 yds rush, 4 TD Xavier Wright, Gray Collegiate, 161 yds pass Nate Dixon, Gray Collegiate, 3 TD rush Navier Boykin, Camden, 127 yds rush, 3 TD J’Zavien Currence, South Pointe, 173 yds pass, 3 TD; 103 yds rush, TD KJ Burg, South Pointe, 10 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks Messiah Jackson, South Florence, 152 yds pass, 3 TD Michael Boulware, Gray Collegiate, 20 tackles, TFL Roper Wentsky, AC Flora, 211 yds pass, 2 TD Jalen Simmons, AC Flora, 161 yds rush, 3 TD Kendall Byrd, AC Flora,100 yds rec, TD Derrick Raniszewski, Hilton Head, 271 yds pass, 3 TD Kaden Stewart, Hilton Head, 4 rec, 168 yds, 2 TD Jayvin Risher, Hilton Head, 11 tackles, 2 TFL Will Jimenez, Hilton Head, 11 tackles, TFL Kaeleb O’Berry, South Aiken, 110 yds rush, TD Blain Drake, South Aiken, 145 yds pass, TD Kingston Bibb, Daniel, 104 yds rush, TD Teagan Pounds, Daniel, 13 tackles AAA Aiden Manavian, Oceanside Collegiate, 14 of 16 passing, 220 yards, 4 TD Cooper Webb, Oceanside Collegiate, 5 receptions, 79 yards, 2 TD Tripp Gallus, Hanahan, 138 yards passing, 3 TD Isaiah Snodgrass, Hanahan, 155 yards rushing, 3 TD Quamell Grant, Hanahan, 7 receptions, 101 yards, 2 TD Khayel Sam Fong Talia, Dillon, 107 yds passing, TD Noah Singleton, Dillon, 106 yds rush, TD Kenton Caldwell, Newberry, 2 TD pass, 2 TD rush Tre Blakeney, Marlboro Co., 283 yds passing, 3 TD Troy Hailey, Marlboro Co., 111 yds rushing, TD Noah Thomas, BHP, 134 yds pass, 4 TD MJ Earl, BHP, 107 yds rush, TD Jakyri Anderson, BHP, 3 sacks Zamire Gerald, Loris, 106 yds pass, 2 TD; TD rush Makel Stephens, Loris, 126 yds rush, 2 TD Sam Patterson, St. Joseph’s, 6 tackles, 2 Int. Jordan Williams, Silver Bluff, 104 yds pass Max Breit, Southside Christian, 180 yds pass, 4 TD; 48 yds rush, TD DJ Lee, Southside Christian, 109 yds rush, TD Keldin Wrona, Southside Christian, 88 yds rec, 2 TD; 3 int., 10 tackles, 3 TFL Judd Windham, Christ Church, 238 yds pass, 3 TD; TD rush Michael Martin, Christ Church, 153 yds rush, 2 TD Jue Hall Christ Church, 3 rec, 109 yds, 3 TD Mason Evans, Crescent, 272 yds pass, 4 TD;65 yds rush, 3 TD Amiri Acker, Crescent, 7 rec, 163 yds, 2 TD Braydon Simpson, Broome, 129 yds pass, TD;114 yds rush, 2 TD Tyqwon Booker, Broome, 176 yds rush, TD Tremt Garner, Pendleton, 22 tackles, 2 TFL AA Bri’shaun Lee, Strom Thurmond, 158 yds pass, 2 TD Kalen Simpkins, Strom Thurmond, 2 TD rec Sincere Hubbard, Chesterfield, 14 tackles Taveon Moore. Central, 85 yds rec, 2 TD Ashten Wilson, Central, 97 yds rush (4 carrries), 2 TD Jaylen Singletary, Hampton Co, 279 yds rush, 5 TD Tarell Grant, Chesterfield, 69 yds rush, 49 yds pass, TD Logan Neal, Andrew Jackson, 15 of 17, 212 yds, TD Jacob Evansm, Ninety Six, 127 yds pass Joe Moore, Ninety six,115 yds rush, TD Jase Fair, Andrew Jackson, 16 tackles Braylon Harley, Andrew Jackson, 15 tackles Nick Gordon, Cheraw, 139 all-purpose yards Kai Streater, Cheraw, 3 TFL, sack Omonte Taylor, Philip Simmons, 130 yards rushing, 4 TD Brayden Williams, Saluda, 269 total yards, 3 TD rush, TD rec Ethan Chisum, Philip Simmons, 10 tackles, 5 sacks Javion Jenkins, Timberland, 11 tackles, int. ret. TD, blkd punt recover for TD Antuan Faison, Timberland, 11 tackles, 2 TFL, 80 yds rush Eric Roberts, Timberland, 13 tackles Anthony Peeples, Timberland, 19 tackles. TFL KD Whitt, Batesburg-Leesville, 3 TD rec, TD rush A Brayden Franklin, Baptist Hill, 204 yards passing, 2 TD; 78 yards rushing Martrell Wright, Baptist Hill, 7 receptions, 147 yards, 2 TD Kevin Smalls, Baptist Hill, 26 total tackles, 4 TFL Nygel Eaddy, Lamar, 126 yds rush, 2 TD Kamil McCoy, Lamar, 2 rec, 92 yds Jayden Johnson, Ware Shoals, 115 yds pass, 3 TD;146 yds rush, TD Altavis Evans, Ware Shoals, 144 yds rush, TD Elijah Brown, Ware Shoals, 11 tackles, 3 TFL Zaghe Davis, Johnsonville, 190 yds rush, 4 TD Jeremiah Knightner, CA Johnson, 4 sacks SCISA Allen Chisolm, Porter-Gaud, 13 tackles, 5 TFL, sack Reed Almers, Dorchester Academy, 170 yards rushing, 2 TD Silas Brawner, Pinewood Prep, 338 yards passing, 5 TD Tyler Harper, Pinewood Prep, 4 receptions. 82 yards, 2 TD

Powdersville overcomes Landsharks challenge to win second straight 3A championship.

By WORTHY EVANS HSSR Contributing Writer Columbia - The Westwood football team shook off a regular-season ending loss to Sumter on Halloween with a double-digit postseason victory over St . James Friday night. The Redhawks, seeded seventh in the lower state bracket, opened the Class 5A Division 2 playoffs with a 41-14 victory over the No.10 Sharks at District Two Stadium. Against the Sharks, the Redhawks’ defense showed up early and finished the night with six interceptions and a fumble recovery. “On that side of the ball we’re playing really well despite what some scores looked like,” Westwood head coach Stephen Burris said. “Even last week (a 65-28 loss to the Gamecocks) I thought they played well enough to keep us around for a while.” Against St. James, Tyrese Drakeford came down with two interceptions and recovered a fumble. Zion Oliver , Justin Washington , Donte’ Davis , and Shareef Pitt also came down with picks. Besides forcing turnovers, the Westwood defense held St. James to just 6 yards rushing and 48 yards passing in the first half. That effort enabled the Redwhawks offense to overcome an early sputter, and put 20 points on the scoreboard by halftime.  “Our offense has to pick it up and do their part and tonight we looked OK,” Burris said. “But our defense, any time you force turnovers, you have a chance to win the game. I’m proud of their effort, our kids are playing hard and our coaches are coaching hard and we’ll see if we can piece one together against Berkeley” Westwood hits the road Friday to take on No.2 Berkeley. The Stags (8-2) had a bye week last week. St. James (4-7) took the opening kickoff, and two plays later gave it back to Westwood when Sharks quarterback Alex Sandt’s pass got deflected into the hands of Oliver. Westwood took 11 plays to go 44 yards, but the Redhawks hit paydirt when Elye Owens hooked up with Tyrek Jenkins for a 13-yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0 with 7:31 to play in the first quarter. The Redhawks limited St. James on offense again and drove to the St. James 1-yard line. Angelo Rios’ run on fourth down went for a 2-yard loss. Westwood turned the ball over on downs on that drive, but on the Sharks’ next possession Justin Washington picked off another Sandt pass. This time Westwood got to the goal line and Rios shot through to the end zone to put the Redhawks up 13-0 at the 9:47 mark of the second. Westwood went up 20-0 on Jovan Howard’s determination not to be tackled for loss. On second and 10 at their own 41, Howard took the handoff and a St. James tackler met him immediately in the backfield. Howard wrestled out of the stop, cut back and turned to the left side of the field where he ran free to complete a 59-yard touchdown run. That score at the 3:31 mark of the second gave the Redhawks a 20-0 halftime lead. Rios opened the second half with a 65-yard touchdown run from scrimmage after the opening kickoff. St. James got on the scoreboard with Sandt’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Alijah Ochoa midway through the third quarter. Rios scored on a 28-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter, which the Sharks countered with another Sandt-to-Ochoa touchdown pass that put the score at 34-14. Jayden Rischer’s 2-yard score with three minutes in the game closed out the scoring. The Redhawks face a challenge with the Stags, who finished second to Stratford in the Region 7-5A standings and shut out Westwood 36-0 in the second round of the playoffs a year ago. Berkeley has rushed for 2,467 yards and 31 touchdowns and passed for 1,130 yards and 11 touchdowns for the season. Junior quarterback Henry Rivers has thrown for 851 yards and 7 touchdowns but 3 interceptions and rushed for 557 yards and 12 TDs. “Big, physical, but nothing we haven’t seen yet,” Burris said. “Their quarterback is very dynamic, very similar to the kid from Sumter ( Franklin Richardson ). Our kids went down there last year and played them. I think they know what to expect.” With the defense playing as well as they have been in recent weeks, Burris said in spite of the seeding, he can see Westwood have a good chance to make the trip to Moncks Corner very interesting. “We’ve just got to get ready to play, man,” Burris said. “They’re a good team, they’ve got a bye for a reason, and we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’ll go in as an underdog and nobody will expect anything out of us, but sometimes I like being in that situation. When your back’s against the wall sometimes you play the best.” St. James 0 0 7 7 – 14 Westwood 7 13 7 14 – 41 First Quarter W - Tyrek Jenkins 13 pass from Elye Owens (Muhsin Yakubu kick) 7:31 Second Quarter W - Angelo Rios 1 run (kick failed) 9:47 W - Jovan Howard 59 run (Yakubu kick) 3:31 Third Quarter W - Rios 65 run (Yakubu kick) 11:45 S - Alijah Ochoa 15 pass from Alex Sandt (Woods Herring kick) 6:16 Fourth Quarter W -Rios 28 run (Yakubu kick) 11:25 S - Ochoa 25 pass from Sandt (Herring kick) 7:06 W - Jayden Rischer 2 run (Yakubu kick) 3:48 StJ W First downs 16 15 Rushes-yds 26-115 43-225 Passing yds 116 177 Att-Com-Int 32-13-5 23-16-1 Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties-yds 7-45 5-50 Punts-Avg 4-27.3 4-29.5 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING S - Hayes Cochrane 10-64, William Bradshaw 8-1, Alex Sandt 3-12, Josh Harnish 2-9, Rylan Williams 1-9, Team 1-20. W - Angelo Rios 15-82, Jovan Howard 13-112, Elye Owens 7-21, Jaylen Donaldson 2-2, Jayden Rischer 2-4, Carlos McKenzie 1-2, Quentin McGill 1-1, Tyrek Jenkins 1-(-5), Team 1-6. PASSING S - Alex Sandt 13-31-4, Woods Herring 0-1-1. W - Elye Owens 15-22-1, Josiah Henryhand 1-1-0. RECEIVING S - Ayden Smith 2-14, Alijah Ochoa 4-69 Josh Harnish 4-10, Brady Larrow 1-15, Rylan Williams 1-1. W - Angelo Rios 3-14, Cohen Scott 3-9, Quentin McGill 2-67, Miles Grant 2-18, Jovan Howard 2-13, Sheldon Bradley 1-20.

Running back Cam Grayson picks up yards for Summerville Oct. 30 during the Green Wave’s win over Fort Dorchester. Photo by Roger Lee.

Hampton County Senior Jaylen Singletary has rushed for 1555 yards and 24 touchdowns so far this season.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Andrews – Since head coach Scott Durham and his staff took over the Andrews football program in 2013 they have had only one losing season and have established themselves as one of top-class AA teams in the low country but the 2025 seasons did not meet the standard set by previous Yellowjacket teams. “Finishing 4-7 is not up to our expectations or standards. I don’t feel like we’ve played a complete four quarters of football in all three phases all year. We just haven’t been able to put it all together and it showed in all our games,” said coach Durham. The Yellowjackets season ended Friday night in the first round of the class AA playoffs when they fell to the Cheraw Braves 17-7 on the road. “We have played a tough schedule. Two of our non-region opponents won their region (Carvers Bay and Andrew Jackson), Waccamaw had the best team I have seen them have, and Hanahan hosted them in a playoff game. You add those to our region schedule, and we certainly played some tough teams,” Durham said. Despite the up and down season, there were a few highlights. Senior running back AJ Lee became the first running back in Andrews history to rush for over 4000 yards with a school record 4350 yards. He has also rushed for a school record 53 rushing touchdowns. The All State running back burst on the scene as a sophomore when he replaced All State and Touchstone North/South All Star Lavon White and he rushed for 1175 yards and 15 touchdowns. He followed that up with a school record 1432 yards and another 17 touchdowns. He capped his career with another school record with 1752 yards and 21 touchdowns. He is starting to get looks for colleges and has several visits scheduled. He is a hidden Gem. It’s hard to understand how he was left off the rosters for the Shrine Bowl or the Touchstone North/South All Star game. Before the season coach Durham said for the Yellowjackets to be successful AJ just had to be AJ and I would say he accomplished that in a big way. Western Michigan commit Chris Stewart had another stellar season for the Yellowjackets despite people running away from him or double/ triple teaming him. He still found ways to make plays as he led the team in tackles with 76, tackles for loss with 19, sacks with 10 and pass breakups with five. He was selected to play in the Touchstone North/ South All Star game in Myrtle Beach. For his career, he had over 200 tackles to go with 63 tackles for loss, 27.5 sacks and 11 pass break ups. Joining Stewart at the Touchstone North/Sout All Star game will be offensive linemen Da’Viyon McNair . He is a three-year starter and is the unquestioned leader of the Yellowjackets offensive line. He and the rest of the line paved the way for AJ’ s school record rushing yards. Riley Jordan played well on both sides of the ball while quarterback Avery Durham had a solid year throwing for over 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns. .

Jayden Alexander is Pinewood Prep’s leading receiver this season. Photo by Roger Lee.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Columbia – Saturday was a great day for tennis at the Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center where the Girls state tennis championship were held with a couple of first time participates, a couple of rematches from last season and a match between two of the all-time state tennis powers. From the start of the day loud cheers could be heard from all over the complex as most of the matches were nail-bitters. The Championships started at 10 with AAAAA Division 1 and 2 and the class AAAA getting things started with the AAAAA Division 2 match finishing first. The West Florence Knights battled with TL Hanna Yellow Jackets in the AAAAA Division 2 match. It was West Florence first trip to the state finals while TL Hanna was looking for their third state championship. They brought home the title in 2013. While the match was tough it was the first timers from Florence who walked away with their first state championship winning the match 4-2. “It feels amazing to hold this trophy,” said West Florence head coach Abby Sullivan . “This something we worked for, we has been to the lower state finals the last three years so it is really amazing to come out on the winning side.” Coach continued, “One of the keys to getting here was beating Myrtle Beach. The match was intense and hard fought on every court. I feel that experience helped us today push through when things got tough.” The Knights got off to fast start as Shelby White won the number singles over Melina Moncada Lema in straight sets 6-3,6-2 and in the number two singles Grace Murrell also won in straight sets 6-1,6-1 over Hanna’s Emery Tripamer. The number two doubles made it a 3-0 lead for the Knights when Mattie Segars and Lillian Guerriero defeated Emry Smith and Karis Kim 6-3,6-0. The Yellow Jackets fought back in the three and four singles with Josie Eskridge and Meri Drake Venturella winning their matches. Eskridge beat Elle Brannon in a third set tie breaker 10-7 after they split the first games 7-5, 4-6 while Venturella beat Maia Rivera-Cintron 6-4,6-3 to bring the match to 3-2 West Florence. The Knights would end the match in the number five singles when Emma Watford beat Lauren Yaekoub 6-3 in the first set and 7-6 with a 7-3 win in the tie breaker. The win made it 4-2 with Knights getting ready to hold the trophy. “I am so happy to have won. I didn’t know that my match would win the state title, I thought it would just tie it at 3-3. To find that out was so exciting for me and I just had to dig it out for my teammates,” said Emma. The AAAAA Division 1 match was between two of the all-time top programs in state history in Spartanburg and Wando . Spartanburg was in it’s 22 state final looking for win number 12 while Wando was in their 19 th looking for their 10 th . The Vikings last title was in 2018 beating Wando 4-3. The Warriors were looking to go back-to-back for the first time since they won six straight from 2004-2009. The teams were 2-2 in state championship matches between the two. It was Deja Vue all over again for Wando as the Warriors needed to win the number one doubles match to win the state championship. Seniors Mia El-Kheddiwi and Calli Casazza did what they did last year win the fourth match of the day to give Wando the state championship 4-3 over Spartanburg. They won their match in straight sets 6-2,6-4 over the Vikings Ti’arri Watkins and Wallace Lynch. “It was really exciting for it come down to us again. I love playing doubles with Mia. We are a great team and we wanted to bring a lot of energy to the match,” said Calli. “The first thing I thought was we did this last year in doubles. I am so confident when I play with Calli. She keeps level headed. So, we went out, went with flow, and took the match,” Mia said. Head Coach Bob Lang said, “It was basically like last year, we were tied at three all with River Bluff and Calli and Mia came out and won that match. They did the same thing today. The entire day nip and tuck with every match being intense.” “We were happy to be in position to win the match with our number one doubles and we would have liked to pull that out. I am really proud of our team this year,” said Spartanburg head coach Devin Hileski. The Vikings were on the verge of claiming their 12 th state title with a 3-2 lead as they won the number one, four and five singles matches. Watkins beat El-Kheddiwi in straight sets 6-4,6-1 in the number one singles, Mary English Hammett defeated Madelyn Langheim 6-2,6-2 in the number four singles and Myers Brantley defeated Mae Keegan 6-1, 6-3. “It is fun being here and to be able to win my match. I felt like I was in a good rhythm and I just made the shots I wanted to make,” said Watkins. In the number three singles, the Warriors needed a win to stay alive and up was seventh grader Cyanna Enright. On the court for the Vikings was eighth Ana Kate Alverson. Enright won the first set 6-0 but the second one was much different as the two combatants battled to 6 all in the second set forcing a tie breaker. Enright was down 4-1 in the tie breaker and on the verge of heading to a third set. She dug deep and won 7 of the next 9 points to win the tie breaker 8-6 and tie the match at 3. “Cyanna played great and made an incredible come back to win the second set. I am excited to watch her career,” said coach Lang. Wando became the 7 th in school in state history with 10 or more girls tennis state championships joining Bishop England (27), Christ Church (18), Myrtle Beach (16), Hilton Head (13), Spartanburg (11), and Belton (10). The AAAA match between AC Flora and Gray Collegiate also came down to the number one doubles match. AC Flora was back in the AAAA finals for the second straight year after falling to Bishop England 4-2 last year. It is their seventh trip to the state finals while this was Gray’s first attempt to win the girls state championship. The Falcons and the War Eagles had battled to a 3-3 tie when twins Emily and Catherine Smith took the court against Morgan Horlback and Kate Snyder . The twins won the match in straight sets 6-4,6-3 to give the Falcons a 4-3 win and three third state girls tennis title in eight trips. It was head coach Amy Martin’s second. “My number one doubles, are my number one and number two singles and they are twin sisters. They know each other thoughts, what they are going to do and they communicate. We felt good heading into that final match,” said coach Martin. “I still don’t believe it. We just worked so hard this season so I am really glad all our hard work paid off. Coming up short last didn’t feel great but winning this year feels awesome,” said Emily Smith. Gray Collegiate won the number one, number three and number four singles matches. Horlback beat Emily 6-2,7-6, Alisa Petushko beat Carlyn Guffee 6-3,6-2 and Cecily Lokodi beat Ruby Cecchini 6-0,6-1. The Falcons won the number two singles with Catherine beating Snyder 6-3,3-6, 10-4 and Liza Stavrou beat Sidney Moore 6-4,6-0 in the number five singles. The number doubles team Ella Foley and Stokely Haile defeated Mary Catherine Gabrielli and Stella Malcom 6-3,6-4. The next match to finish was the A/AA match between Academic Magnet and Landrum in a rematch of last years final won by Academic Magnet 6-0. The Raptors won their first title last year after four runner up finishes. The Cardinals were looking for their first championship. The Raptors won the first four singles match to go back-to-back winning 4-0. Maggie Schwartz won the number one singles 6-1,6-1 over Eva Burnett , Sophia Easterbrook beat Ilana Taylor 6-2,6-2 in the twos, Kamya Pham beat Ellis Burnett 6-3,6-1 in the threes, and Archer Fanning won the number four 6-2,6-1 over Amelia Campbell. First year head coach Mark Borst was excited to go back-to-back but it was different year for the Raptors. “Last years head coach did a great job in winning it all. I always say no matter what it is a new season. I told my athletic director that to be the best you have to play the best. Even though we had six loss this season, 17-6. We played some of the top teams during the year. Landrum is a good team and they were 21-1 so I felt we were the underdogs,” said coach Borst. Captain Sophia Easterbrook said , “I’m a senior so I’m over the moon with winning back-to-back championships. I think this is such a great team. We are young team, a passionate team and we did such a great job all year. I could not be prouder of the people around me.” The AAA match conclude the days events and it was another rematch from last year as 18 times state champion Christ Church was taking on four-time state champ Oceanside Collegiate . Oceanside won last year’s match up 4-3 as the match came down to the number one doubles match. The win was the fourth consecutive title for the Landsharks. The Landsharks won four of the five singles matches to down the Cavaliers 4-2 and win their fifth consecutive state championship. “They are all special,” said Oceanside head coach Shawn Harris . “Every year is different. The past four years we had more seniors. This is the youngest team I have ever had so do to win this one was very exciting and we knew it was going to tough. They girls knew they had to step up and they did that. Coach continued, “ Christ Church is an unbelievable team. We played them last year and had another dramatic ending. They are a young team as well so we look to battle with them many more times.” Maeve DeFord got things started in the right direction by winning the number one singles 6-0,6-0 over Lexie Sobocinski. Sephina Tringai won the number three singles beating Elza Cunningham 6-0, 6-1, Adi Levy beat Sadler Fox 6-4,6-3 in the number four singles and Sophia Sebold clinched the match by winning the number five singles in a tie breaker 10-8 over Mary Bess Williams . The Cavaliers won the number two singles when Lydia Mahfood beat Annsen Saulisbury 6-3,6-3 and the number two doubles of Karyston Davis and Elle Hawks defeated Ellore Besta and Kacy Kesner 6-0,6-2.

Woodmont volleyball bests NMB in five sets for 5A Division 2 state title, first school state crown since 1979 By WORTHY EVANS HSSR Contributing Writer Columbia - The Woodmont volleyball team may have been the underdog in facing defending 5A Division 2 defending champion North Myrtle Beach , but the Wildcats were playing without pressure. Woodmont took the Chiefs to five sets at Dreher High School Thursday night, and when sophomore outside hitter Mallory Mizell slammed a kill shot into the middle of the North Myrtle Beach court for the 15 th point of set 5, she was quickly buried in a pile of blue-uniformed teammates in front of the net. The final hit clinched the Wildcats’ 3-2 victory over the Chiefs, who barely won the first set and dropped the second and third sets before winning the fourth to force the deciding set. “I told them, the pressure is not on us, the pressure is on the other team,” Woodmont head coach Haleigh Horgan said. “We’ve never been here. And for them to come back and fight through five sets, it was brilliant.” The win also the school’s first state championship since 1979. Woodmont got off to a hot start in the match, winning the first four points and eventually taking a 6-1 lead in the first set. North Myrtle Beach, led by senior outside hitter Clara Cloninger , eventually worked their way out of the deficit. The Chiefs battled to a 24-24 stalemate and won the first set 27-25. The Wildcats could have faltered, but instead kept the pressure on North Myrtle Beach throughout the second and third sets. Besides Mizell, senior hitter Aubrie Walker and junior middle blocker Kendall Cobb began delivering kills and blocks along the net. Woodmont won the second set 25-21, but in the third set the Wildcats got more effective in blocking and spiking along the net, building a 10-4 lead early in the set and closing it out with back-to-back kills from Cobb for a 25-18 win. “She has been something else this season,” Horgan said of Cobb. “That was a really big answer for us this season, setting the middle and getting them (opponents) off of our outsides so our outsides could open up. I’m really big on establishing those middles and then opening up the net, and they did just that.” North Myrtle Beach won the first four points of the fourth set and held on to win 25-20, which evened the score at 2-2. “It was just about grit and resilience and competing,” Chiefs head coach Jenn Loeswick said. “Our seniors came out on fire early on in that set. I just told them to go out and compete, that’s all you can control. You can’t control the win-loss, you can’t control the points, but you can work hard, have fun, be a good teammate.” Both teams battled for an advantage in the fifth set. The Chiefs had a slight advantage with a 13-11 lead following Lily Loeswick’s and Madison Johnson’s unanswered block that landed in the Woodmont court. Horgan called a timeout after that point. “I said ‘trust your training,’” she said. “I’m going to be honest, my team has prayed over the season and at that last time out we prayed. I told them trust in your training, be calm, and we prayed just for the calm. It definitely was answered.” On the next point, Cloninger’s serve was out, cutting the Chiefs’ lead to 13-12. Woodmont server Samantha Willis hit the ball in play, and Cobb tied the game at 13 on a kill. Willis hit the ball in play again, and Mizell’s kill set Woodmont up for the match point. After a short volley, Mizell took flight near the center of the net and dropped the ball into an open space on the Chief’s side for the win. This year’s state championship run began last year, when Woodmont went 31-5 but fell out in the third round of the playoffs. Horgan said the culture took root in a team that went 1-14 in 2020. “Last year we had great seniors, and we wanted to change the culture,” Horgan said. “I said you’ve got to trust me, you’ve got to trust the culture, and it just bled over into this year. It was beautiful. My seniors Aubrie and Lauren ( Smith ) are captains and they embodied exactly what I wanted, and my returners came back and wanted the exact same thing. They’re all playing at high-level clubs and that’s important, but it’s just the trust in me, the trust in their teammates and the trust in their training that they can do the job.” The loss after such a hard-fought game came hard for the Chiefs, but Loeswick reminded the team, “I know this hurts a little bit, but after that hurt, make sure to not forget what a great season we had, what an incredible match this was,” she told the team. “This group has a huge place in my heart. They played with so much heart and battled. They played for each other all the time. They played with grit and determination. If you’re going to go out, this was the one you want to go out with.”