Region pecking orders will start to fall into place after this week of high school football

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.”

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Berkely's Alaina Carter led the Stags with a game high 18 points in their win to capture the lower state championship over Goose Creek.

Sumter - The SCISA state basketball championship games at the Sumter Civic Center some of the best games in recent memory. The final game with Greenwood Christian vs Spartanburg Christian went to triple OT to determine the champion. 

Hawks rally from an 11-point halftime deficit to win epic game in first trip to state finals