Eastside New Year’s Classic: Top Performances Part 2

Several girls teams – mostly from the Upstate of the Palmetto State, participated in one last tournament prior to the 2021 calendar year ending. Those eight teams converged on Eastside HS in Taylors to take part in its New Year’s Classic. The lone non-Upstate team that participated was Carolina Forest out of Myrtle Beach. We at Prep Girls Hoops were on site at the home of the Eagles for the final day of competition – when a champion, runner-up and subsequent finishers would be determined. Here is a look at even more standouts who turned in big performances to help their teams. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-371896" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/01/3FB8E167-9969-49D8-9D6F-A378F4E323F8.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="371889" first="Aumaya" last="Taylor"] – 2023 – Carolina Academy</strong> – Aumaya is Taylor-made for basketball success. In the Trojans’ fifth-place contest to with Travelers Rest to open Thursday’s games, she did a bit of everything to keep Carolina Academy within striking distance of a Devildogs team with a much bigger bench. She ran point, executed well with ball movement and maintained confidence in her ability to drain 3-point shots. Taylor can slice and dice her way through a slew of defenders, and she may get fouled along the way which will put her at the free throw line. She paced the Trojans’ efforts with 10 points – including four made free throws. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="373960" first="Campbell" last="Cox"] – 2022 – Greer HS </strong>– Cox did a lot for her stock on Thursday morning – and did so while coming off the bench and making the most of her minutes. She operated well within the flow of the offense by receiving perfectly timed passes and on a couple of occasions in the first quarter turned those into opportunities to get three points the hard way. She also managed to corral rebounds and keep herself out of foul trouble – Cox only had two personals called against her in a game where she played plenty of minutes off the bench. She scored nine points in the Yellow Jackets’ commanding victory over Carolina Forest. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="371890" first="Samora" last="Moody"] – 2025 – Greer HS</strong> – The Yellow Jackets’ victory over Carolina Forest in the tournament’ third-place game was emphatic in part because the key contributors for Greer came off the bench. Moody was one of those contributors. On one occasion when the Panthers were looking to make something happen in transition, she and Yellow Jackets teammate [player_tooltip player_id="253657" first="<strong>Amiyah" last="Clark-Lamelle</strong>"] (2024) doubled teamed a Carolina Forest ball-handler to prevent a transition layup. Moody also came up big at the free throw line. Foul shots accounted for seven of the nine points she scored. <strong>Anaya Dillard – 2024 – JL Mann HS</strong> – In tight contests such as the tournament’s championship game between the Patriots and Easley, coaches want players who can step up in crunch time. JL Mann’s star sophomore, who has also participated in track and field in her athletic career, answered the text and came off the bench. Defensively, she managed to get her hand on the ball while Easley was in halfcourt sets. Offensively, she converted on high-percentage shot opportunities near the basket, grabbed offensive rebounds, and drew contact to put her at the line. Dillard had eight points. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-355988" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/11/CA034906-F90F-49BA-87B6-DB7C58833EE4.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="355639" first="Miracle" last="McLean"] – 2026 – Carolina Forest HS</strong> – Head coach Stacy Hughes’ Panthers have a sister act going on in 2021-22 between their rising star 2026 and big sister Kennedi who is a 2022.  McLean had six points in the Panthers’ game with Greer and helped her team in other ways that does not always show up on an official stat sheet. She came up with steals, remained active even away from the ball and drew contact which placed her at the line for free throw opportunities. She is listed at 6-foot-1 and also helped out with her interior defense.