Class 3A State Championship: Keenan HS vs Bishop England HS

This year’s Class 3A final not only pitted one of the best teams in the Midlands against one of the best teams in the Lowcountry, but was a contest of the last two state champions from the aforementioned class. Bishop England won the 2019 3A state title while Keenan was crowned champions last season. On Friday night, the Raiders put the finishing touches on a repeat performance as they defeated the Bishops by a final of 62-55 at the Aiken Convocation Center. “To get that back-to-back, that’s something we never did on the girls side,” Raiders coach Reggie McLain said. “So, we set our goal at the beginning to try to win back-to-back state championships for the first time.” <strong>Strong out the gate:</strong> In similar fashion to Thursday’s 4A Final between Westside and North Myrtle Beach, the Raiders raced and paced themselves to a 14-0 lead in the matchup’s opening minutes. Keenan displayed the combination of offense and defense that has been a signature of the team all season. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-260475" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/766BC745-2F6D-44D7-83F2-A799F9F8ABCC.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> With just over two minutes to play in the first quarter, a running floater from <strong>Lily Woods</strong> got the Bishops on the board. Those two accounted for two of her 21 points she scored. Woods also contributed six rebounds, three assists and two steals to the Bishops’ cause. <strong>Battling Bishops Battle Back:</strong> Bishop England trailed 50-36 at the start of the fourth quarter, but embarked on an 8-0 run to close its deficit to 50-44. With under a minute to play, the Bishops’ ferocious comeback continued as they made it a one-possession with the score being 58-55 in Keenan’s favor. “I told (my players) (Bishop England) had a run in them,” McLain said. “This team is known for coming back, coming back in big games. I told them just to withstand it, keep playing hard.” <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-260476" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/2149B966-FBEB-4EE0-9283-15AA3DD42D39.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> Along with Woods’ 21, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="207410" first="Ally" last="Dominiak"]</strong> added 18 points (14 in the second half), six rebounds, three assists and a steal. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="262009" first="Ella" last="Schar"] </strong>came within one point and two boards shy of a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. <strong>More than just Milaysia:</strong> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-260479" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/B8207386-081F-418D-81B6-96F57B9603F7.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> Even though <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124104" first="Milaysia" last="Fulwiley"]</strong> had another Fulwiley-type game with 29 points, seven steals, six rebounds and six assists, Keenan also got a huge effort from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="260471" first="Tamyra" last="Davis"]</strong>, who scored 14 points and hauled in three rebounds. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="216961" first="Jailyn" last="Oree"]</strong> came up big on the boards, collecting 13 rebounds including seven on the offensive glass to go along with eight points. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-260478" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/27033D1E-9E1C-4BAB-A6E8-B9013871E10F.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="185722" first="Ashari" last="Lewis"]</strong> was two points and two rebounds shy of a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds. <strong>Waiting for Seventh Heaven:</strong> Bishops coach Paul Runey was going for his seventh championship at Bishop England. Friday’s championship game marked the eighth appearance in the last decade that the Bishops made it to the state title game. <strong>Familiar foes:</strong> Two years ago when the Bishops won the 3A state championship that season, Runey and his Bishop England squad did so at Keenan’s expense. The final score was 54-46 to close out the 2018-19 campaign. Dominiak at the time was a freshman and Woods was a sophomore. <strong>Departing seniors:</strong> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-260477" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/36454100-4F5B-4920-A92E-984137539B64.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> Keenan will see Davis as well as Mahogany Johnson depart. Woods, [player_tooltip player_id="171738" first="<strong>Jaiha" last="Williams</strong>"] and Caroline White have donned Bishop England’s Kelly green for the final time. Woods has committed to playing tennis at Wofford. Williams had a stellar career for Bishop England. Williams finished her career today with just 5 points. <strong>Closing the Book:</strong> The Lady Raiders finish the season with an 18-2 record plus an unblemished 8-0 in Region 4-AAA. The Bishops finish 12-2 along with 5-0 in Region 8-AAA. Head Coach Reggie McClain won his 5th State Title with the Keenan HS Lady Raiders. The Lady Raiders have went (3-1) in the last 4 years and he has taken his squad to 6 of the last 8 title games.