Upper State 2A Final: Christ Church vs. Landrum HS

The second day of action to determine championship game participants from the Upper State tipped off on Monday afternoon with Christ Church taking on Landrum. The Davis Field House at Bob Jones University proved to be kind to the Cavaliers as they clinched a trip to Aiken with the final score being 54-39 over the Cardinals. Coach Ja’Net Vicks’ Christ Church bunch scored the first seven points of the game, but Landrum made things interesting towards the end of the first quarter. With one frame in the books, the Cavaliers maintained an 11-8 lead over Landrum. Christ Church then opened up the second quarter in similar style as it did the first – with a scoring binge that extended out its lead. What was an 11-8 game after the opening stanza became a 17-8 contest in favor of the Cavaliers in the second quarter. At the half, it was 29-16 with Christ Church ahead of coach Jared St. Charles’ Cardinals team. Andrew Jackson defeated Silver Bluff 44-40 in the 2A Lower State Final at the Florence Civic Center, setting up a 2A championship matchup on Satuday between the Cavaliers and Volunteers at USC-Aiken’s Convocation Center. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2101-scaled-crop-1951x1281-1646118895.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394518" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2101-scaled-crop-1951x1281-1646118895-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="124091" first="McCall" last="King"] proved to be the leading scorer, per usual, for the Cavaliers. The senior and UNCW Seahawk-to-be led all scorers with 22 points. It was not until the second quarter when King had a made basket from the field as her first six points were all made shots from the free throw line. She later had a pair of made 3-pointers in the second quarter – along with one more in the fourth quarter. King also stayed out of foul trouble with only two personal fouls called against her. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2200-scaled-crop-1222x803-1646119036.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394521" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2200-scaled-crop-1222x803-1646119036-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="171796" first="Yasmene" last="Clark"] added 11 points to the Christ Church effort. Out of those 11, she tallied nine of them in the first half. Clark came up particularly big in the low post for the Cavaliers. The junior star did not play for the Cavaliers last season due to an injury – she is now one win shy of a state championship. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2081-scaled-crop-1619x1063-1646119185.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394525" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2081-scaled-crop-1619x1063-1646119185-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Christ Church was also buoyed by a huge shooting performance courtesy of [player_tooltip player_id="219371" first="Mary" last="Wilson Reyner"]. She contributed 11 points – including nine in the second half of play. Those nine points came all courtesy of the 3-pointer as she drained a trio of triples in the third and fourth quarters. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2195-scaled-crop-1164x765-1646119303.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394528" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2195-scaled-crop-1164x765-1646119303-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="251758" first="Savannah" last="Brown"] was the leading scorer for the Cardinals with nine points with a good number of her attempts coming near the rim. Brown did get into a bit of foul trouble early with two personals in the first four minutes of the first quarter. On a at least a couple of occasions, she turned Landrum misses into 2-point putbacks. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2185-scaled-crop-1169x767-1646119426.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394530" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2185-scaled-crop-1169x767-1646119426-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Following a cold shooting performance in the 2A Upper State semifinal against Buford, Kaylee Cortez (2024) managed to get back on the scoreboard on Monday afternoon with an eight-point showing. Six of her points were scored in the second half – including back-to-back 2-pointers near the rim midway through the third quarter. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2167-scaled-crop-1164x765-1646119621.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394532" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2167-scaled-crop-1164x765-1646119621-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Another Landrum sophomore also gave the Cardinals a bit of a second half scoring boost. Sydney Price (2024) also scored eight points – including six in the fourth quarter. Those six were the most of any Landrum player in the closing frame. Prior to defeating the Cardinals, Christ Church scored wins over Chesnee (61-33), defending 2A champion Saluda (56-46) and Gray Collegiate (48-42) en route to the Upper State final. Landrum’s victories were at the expense of Liberty (54-34), Crescent (51-37) and Buford (45-38) to earn its trip to Greenville. The Cavaliers victory pushes Christ Church’s record to 17-4 and it is also the 13th consecutive contest where the Cavaliers have ended up in the win column. The book closes on Landrum’s season having gone 21-8 along with finishing 8-2 in its Region 2-AA. The Cardinals graduate a bevy of seniors - including Kara Knight, Payton Hawkins, Ali Allison, Verae Upton, Anna Cooper, McKenna Harris and Carter Newton.