South Carolina - AAA State Championship Game Preview - 3 Things To Know

3 Things To Know… Marion High School ( 29 - 1 ) VS Keenan High School ( 20 - 6 ) Saturday March 7 - 2:00 PM   Keenan is making their 3rd straight State Championship appearance, including the 2nd consecutive at the AAA classification. Marion is looking to make a name for themselves this year and also have a young roster, they may be starting their own Dynasty!!   <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Can Junior Guard - Kimbrie’l Barnes - slow down - Freshman - [player_tooltip player_id="124104" first="Milaysia" last="Fulwiley"] - enough to give them a chance to Win the State Championship?</li> </ol>   This will be the matchup of the game to determine how many times Marion can make [player_tooltip player_id="124104" first="Milaysia" last="Fulwiley"] give up the ball in a halfcourt setting and make other girls from Keenan take the shot. Marion Junior Guard - Kimbrie’l Barnes is very good, she has length at 5’10” tall, great foot speed and a High IQ, the only problem is that no one has been able to stop [player_tooltip player_id="124104" first="Milaysia" last="Fulwiley"] from getting to where she wants on the Basketball court, at least not yet!! Keenan has averaged 84.2 Points per game during the SCHSL Playoffs and that includes a 100 Pt game, things are really rolling for their entire offense. Marion is going to have to play this by committee - They have Senior - Keyla Britt along with Junior - Mariah Moody - That will be rotating over to help throughout the game. I believe that Kimbrie’l will be the primary defender on Milaysia until she gets in foul trouble. Milaysia has averaged 26.4 Pts per game so far this year and really wanted to leave no doubt about making it back to the State Championship game when she scored 42 Points in the Upper State Finals against Seneca. I was in attendance for her performance against Wilson at the MLK Bash where she scored a career high 54 Points, she is playing at a very high level right now and I know she will be ready for this game with another opportunity to bring home a State Championship.   <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Who will win the matchup between Keenan - Junior - Ashara Lewis - Going against Marion Junior - Tonaja Lester?</li> </ol>   Tonaja Lester has led the Marion team in scoring all year long with a 12.2 Pts per game average, she is strong and can score in from the mid-range and the interior at will, her 3-Pt shooting is also dangerous. The matchup with Ashari Lewis is going to be fun to watch throughout the game, the Keenan Junior is a long athletic force on the court, she can defend and rebound at a high level. Lewis has averaged 9.7 Pts per game to go with 5.9 Rebounds while being a primary defender on one of the opponents top scorers. This matchup will go along way into identifying who will win this game, if lewis can make it difficult for Lester to get her shots or get cooking from the field, this may be a long day for Marion.   <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;">How is Marion planning to stop Keenan - Freshman - [player_tooltip player_id="124104" first="Milaysia" last="Fulwiley"]?</li> </ol>   I already addressed the matchup with Junior Kimbrie’l Barnes but I want to emphasize this will be an all hands on deck situation for Marion High School. I hope that you have heard the term “Throw the kitchen sink at them” that is exactly what marion coach - Crasten Davis: will have to implement in order to walk away with this Championship. Milaysia is a “once in a generation” type player and with Keenan losing there Senior 1000 Point scorer [player_tooltip player_id="124063" first="Dyani" last="Burke"] to a knee injury in December, a lot of people started to write Keenan off but Head Coach - Reggie McClain: made some adjustments and here they are right back at Colonial Life Arena - Playing for there 3rd straight State Championship. I have seen teams try different ways to stop this young lady - Sit back in a zone and let her shoot, that will be tough because she is knocking them down consistently from deep. Teams will try to press Keenan but Milaysia moves like she is shot out of a cannon and most young ladies aren’t built like that. If Marion wants this trophy they will have to take it directly from Milaysia’s hands - I am sure she will give it her very best to take it back home to Columbia,, SC.