Upper State 3A Final: Keenan HS vs Southside HS

Many a hoops pundit across South Carolina predicted that Keenan, winners of the last two 3A state championships would once again be playing in the state title game to cap off the 2021-22 season. Coach Reggie McLain’s Raiders proved said prognosticators correct on Monday evening at Davis Field House as Keenan notched a hard-fought victory over Southside by a final of 62-52. Who will the Raiders face for the 3A crown? The answer is Camden as the Bulldogs prevailed over Bishop England in the Lower State final at Florence Civic Center. This sets up a matchup not only between the Raiders and Bulldogs but between two of high school basketball’s premier prospects in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124104" first="Milaysia" last="Fulwiley"]</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id="171798" first="Joyce" last="Edwards"]. “That’s going to be tough,” McLain said. “(Edwards) is an outstanding player. We played her a couple years back when she was younger and we know what she’s capable of doing.” <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2493-scaled-crop-1801x1183-1646136952.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394546" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2493-scaled-crop-1801x1183-1646136952-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Speaking of Fulwiley, given the Raiders’ relatively close margin of victory, they needed every one of the 37 points she ended up with – including 25 at halftime. She set the tone early scoring the first two points quickly off the opening tip, then eventually 10 of Keenan’s first 12. The Raiders and Tigers traded the first two points before Keenan embarked on a 12-0 run which extended the Raiders’ advantage to 14-2 (including eight from Fulwiley). <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2416-scaled-crop-1445x949-1646137062.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394550" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2416-scaled-crop-1445x949-1646137062-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Keenan maintained a 35-21 lead but not before coach Milton Parks’ Southside squad made a push early in the fourth quarter. The Tigers embarked on a 6-0 run to begin the frame, fueled by four from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="196311" first="Kamari" last="Thompson"]</strong>, who eventually finished with 18 points to lead Southside point-getters. The Raiders responded to the Tigers scoring streak with one of their own – a 9-1 scoring advantage which extended Keenan’s lead back out to 44-28 in the third quarter. Southside eventually fought back to bring the margin to within single digits as the fourth quarter commenced. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2357-scaled-crop-1292x849-1646137189.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394552" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2357-scaled-crop-1292x849-1646137189-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="216961" first="Jailyn" last="Oree"]</strong> aided the Raiders’ effort with a six-point performance. She and [player_tooltip player_id="187999" first="Samaya" last="Johnson"] played tough defense on Thompson in an attempt to limit her shot opportunities. “That was the game plan,” McLain said. “We wanted them to shoot a lot of jump shots and try to keep them on the offensive boards and (Southside) still did a great job of getting rebounds and second-chance opportunities and I know (Thompson) did a great job.” <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2352-scaled-crop-1903x1250-1646137281.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394554" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2352-scaled-crop-1903x1250-1646137281-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="185722" first="Ashari" last="Lewis"]</strong> added five points. Among those five were a pair of free throws with under a minute to go in the game. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2359-scaled-crop-1270x834-1646137379.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394559" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2359-scaled-crop-1270x834-1646137379-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> For the Tigers, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="194865" first="Jakayla" last="Lorick"]</strong> contributed 11 points to the Southside cause. She had 10 at the half which led all Tigers scorers through two frames. Lorick was one of three Tigers players who finished with a double-digit point output. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2433-scaled-crop-1990x1307-1646137478.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-394561" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2433-scaled-crop-1990x1307-1646137478-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="176203" first="Quayla" last="Nolan"]</strong>, who shares the Southside team captaincy duties with Thompson, scored 10 points and was the third Tiger to be in double-digits for points. Among those were a few 3-pointers she drained which kept Southside’s hopes alive. The Raiders earned victories over Belton Honea Path (83-34), Powdersville (73-50) and Blue Ridge (65-63) prior to clinching its place in Friday’s 3A championship get-together with Camden. The Tigers’ earned victories over Chapman (78-47), Fairfield Central (54-24) and Lower Richland (37-26) to claim an opportunity to clinch a trip to Aiken. Keenan’s record improves to 23-3 and the Raiders also finished an undefeated 8-0 against Region 4-AAA opponents. Southside’s season ends on a 22-4 note plus going 9-1 in Region 2-AAA. The Tigers have five seniors on the roster who will graduate in [player_tooltip player_id="185725" first="Destiny" last="Blassingame"], [player_tooltip player_id="194856" first="Jyara" last="Wright"], Rayanna Evans, Jaila Young and [player_tooltip player_id="194855" first="Chavia" last="Grant"].