Class A Championship: Southside Christian vs Military Magnet

The 2020-21 Class A state championship game presented a Southside Christian team that had already accomplished a laundry list of noteworthy achievements and a Military Magnet squad looking to exercise its demons of last year’s Class A state title defeat to High Point Academy. Coach Nathaniel Taylor and his Eagles finished its unfinished business from last season and proved victorious over the Sabres by a final score of 54-49 at the USC-Aiken Convocation Center. “Last year was rough,” he said. “We had to wait a whole calendar year, pretty much, to get to where we are now.” Taylor says his Eagles were good enough to bring a championship trophy to North Charleston last season, but eight of his 13 players from the 2019-20 rendition were freshmen, eighth or seventh graders. “(We) went to the lab and worked on some things and tried to fine tune some things, and we’re champs this year,” Taylor said. <strong>A Soaring Start:</strong> In similar fashion to what Westside and Keenan did in its respective championship victories, Military Magnet jumped out to an early 9-0 lead that was fueled by free-throw shooting and 3-point shots. Southside Christian would answer and get back in the game, trimming its deficit to 11-8 in the first quarter. The Eagles led 16-10 at the conclusion of the opening stanza. <strong>Forecast – Rain</strong> Any local meteorologists in Aiken-Augusta that forecasted either clouds or sun forgot to include the Convocation Center in its forecasts. The first half of Sabres-Eagles turned into a 3-point shooting contest with a total of 10 treys drained between the two teams. <strong>A Season to Remember:</strong> While the 2020-21 campaign for Mike Johnson and his Southside Christian Sabres did not end as they hoped, they completed an unforgettable run which included winning its first-ever Upper State championship in program history. <strong>Big Time Players in Big Time Games:</strong> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-260909" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/0DEABDCB-6B6E-4AA2-A17E-9067BB7718A9.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> For the Eagles, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="172055" first="Chazmin" last="Bradley"]</strong> finished with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. She scored 11 of those in the second half, including some clutch shots at the line in the closing moments. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124112" first="Rykia" last="Jakes"]</strong> scored 12 points – all in the first half and all from behind the arc. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-260911" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/E41F4040-33D7-4677-A815-4B88A7862275.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="171795" first="Kaelin" last="Davis"]</strong> tallied 10 with five boards, three dimes and two steals. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="252502" first="Sabri" last="Mitchell"]</strong> hauled in 13 rebounds. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-260906" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/03/EE5FB95F-0767-4947-8BCD-34B7FA742F0F.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> The Sabres’ <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="186278" first="Hannah" last="Fuller"]</strong> led all point-getters with 21. She also grabbed eight rebounds. <strong>Ashlyn Bowers</strong> added 11 points to Southside Christian’s cause. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="259747" first="Kelli" last="Anne Carter"]</strong>, who picked up her fourth foul in the third quarter, collected 10 rebounds. Fuller will play at Georgia Southern University next year. <strong>If At First You Don’t Succeed:</strong> Taylor will likely smile every time he looks at the stat sheet from this game and sees the offensive rebounding column. The Eagles outdid the Sabres 27-16 on the offensive glass. <strong>Seniors:</strong> Carter, Bowers, Fuller and <strong>Grace Rothman</strong> are among the seniors graduating for the Sabres while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="172050" first="Satoya" last="Martin"]</strong> and <strong>Kayata Clinton</strong> are among those listed for Military Magnet. <strong>Closing the Book:</strong> Military Magnet finishes the season with a 10-3 record along with a mark of 4-1 in Region 7-A play. Military Magnet finished as runner up last season to High Point Academy. Southside Christian concludes its 2020-21 campaign with a 15-3 record in addition to going 10-2 in Region 1-A competition.