5A State Championship: Summerville HS vs Rock Hill HS

It is approximately a two-hour drive from Aiken to Rock Hill and vice versa. That drive feels a lot shorter when one is coming off winning a state championship. That was the case for the Bearcats on Thursday afternoon at the USC-Aiken Convocation Center as Rock Hill defeated Summerville by a final of 52-44 to claim the 5A crown. <strong><em>First Time For Everything</em></strong> The victory not only clinched a state championship for Rock Hill – but the first state championship in the history of the school for girls basketball. “Relieved, satisfied, happy for those kids,” Bearcats coach Kenny Orr said on what he was feeling when the final buzzer sounded. “Happy for all the players that (played for Rock Hill) in the past.” <strong><em>Unusually Close</em></strong> The 2021-22 season for the Bearcats has mostly been defined by emphatic victories – many of which by double-digits. But Rock Hill’s victory over the Green Wave was anything but lopsided. The Bearcats did win – but only by eight points which is tied by the slimmest margin of victory Rock Hill has experienced all season. The team defeated 2020-21 5A runner-up Sumter in late November – also by eight points (42-34). <strong><em>Quick Out The Gate</em></strong> Even though the Green Wave scored the game’s first pair of points, it did not take the Bearcats long to do what they have done all season as Rock Hill raced out to an early 12-3 lead. Summerville ensured that this game would not be lopsided. The Bearcats maintained leads of 18-13 after the first quarter and 29-20 at the half. <strong><em>Primetime Performers</em></strong> <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3438-scaled-crop-1566x1028-1646397931.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-396116" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3438-scaled-crop-1566x1028-1646397931-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Four Bearcats would end up with double-digit point totals. One of those was <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="231023" first="Laila" last="Hankerson"]</strong>, who led all Rock Hill point-getters with 13 on the scoreboard. She especially had a great deal of success with her 3-point shooting. Hankerson attempted four triples and made three of them. She also had two steals and made both of her free throw attempts. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3485-2-scaled-crop-2407x1581-1646398008.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-396118" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3485-2-scaled-crop-2407x1581-1646398008-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="190143" first="Jada" last="Jones"]</strong> shined in her final game as a Bearcat before moving on to pursue track at Dartmouth. She had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six assists, three blocked shots and going 6-11 from the field. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3483-2-scaled-crop-2492x1636-1646398084.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-396120" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3483-2-scaled-crop-2492x1636-1646398084-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Also in double-digits for Rock Hill was another senior in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="190145" first="Gracie" last="Wilson"]</strong>, who also dropped 12 points. For the most part, the triples were not falling for Wilson in the first half as she went only 1-5 before draining three of her 3-point attempts to finish 4-9 from behind the arc. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3361-scaled-crop-1491x979-1646398171.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-396123" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3361-scaled-crop-1491x979-1646398171-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="267232" first="Alyssa" last="Hankerson"]</strong> also was in double-digit points for the Bearcats. She scored 11 points and eight of those occurred in the first half. Hankerson going 3-7 from downtown aided a Rock Hill 3-point shooting effort where it went 10-20 from 3-point range. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3348-scaled-crop-1566x1028-1646398263.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-396125" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3348-scaled-crop-1566x1028-1646398263-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> The Green Wave’s leading scorer was also the game’s leading scorer as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="286194" first="Jasmine" last="Grant"]</strong> had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.  She went 8-16 from the field, had four steals and managed to grab eight offensive rebounds – also the most of anyone for the game. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3410-scaled-crop-1393x915-1646398368.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-396128" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3410-scaled-crop-1393x915-1646398368-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="359499" first="Ya’niah" last="Smith"]</strong> also made her way to a double-digit point output. She scored 12 points to along with her two steals and going 5-12 from the field and 2-3 from 3-point land. <strong><em>Closing the Book</em></strong> <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3473-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1646398460.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-396131" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3473-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1646398460-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Rock Hill’s 2021-22 has concluded with not only its first-ever state championship, but a 26-3 record and a 21-game winning streak. The Bearcats also posted a perfect 8-0 mark against adversaries in Region 4-AAAAA. As for the Green Wave, its season will finish at 20-8 in addition to going 6-2 in its Region 8-AAAAA. <strong><em>So Long, Seniors</em></strong> Along with Jones and Wilson, Rock Hill will also graduate [player_tooltip player_id="297083" first="<strong>Airez" last="Fobbs</strong>"], Layla Wilson, Kayla Anthony-Durham and Brevard College commit [player_tooltip player_id="190144" first="<strong>Makayla" last="Street</strong>"]. “(Makayla) right there sacrificed more than anybody on this team,” Orr said. “She played out of position the whole year. She’s a 5-foot-6, 5-foot-7 small forward and guard playing 6-foot-1s and 6-foot-2s … and nobody really notices that except … certain people.” Grant and Smith are not the only Summerville players who will be moving on from the green and gold of the Green Wave. [player_tooltip player_id="357554" first="<strong>Terranique" last="Polite</strong>"] (who had 10 rebounds), Diasanay Bannister and Briana Moore will also graduate from Summerville at the end of the spring semester.