Class 2A Lower/Upper State Championships: Tuesday’s Results

When the 2A schools had their turn to determine who would be its championship finalists, we were already two-thirds of the way through the semifinal schedule.    The 1A, 3A, 5A Division 1 and 4A schools had already decided its championship matchups. The Lower State and Upper championship games on Tuesday, Mar. 4 would set up the two contests set to take place on Saturday for the 2A state championships.    We at Prep Girls Hoops made the trip out to the Pee Dee for the Tuesday set of games. Without further ado, here is our recap of Tuesday's contests from the Florence Center.    Lower State Final: Lake City vs. Andrew Jackson   Tipping off Tuesday's four-game card was a contest that would feature a team that made a massive improvement over last season against a 2A juggernaut.    Lake City moved down from 3A (and out of a tough region that included Camden, Crestwood and Darlington) to 2A and also brought in Shaquetta Cooper as coach. That one move the Panthers made during the offseason has taken Lake City from a seven-win team to one that has been in the win column on 17 occasions in 2024-25. The Panthers gained victories over Buford, Hampton County and Kingstree en route to Tuesday's play.    Andrew Jackson is the defending 2A champions – and the Volunteers were also looking to qualify for the 2A state game for the third time the last four years. With wins over Barnwell, Marion and Atlantic Collegiate, Andrew Jackson made its way through a Lower State field despite playing in an Upper State region.    Andrew Jackson's bid to make the 2A state championship game for the third time in four tries was successful with its dominant 96-33 over Lake City.    “I'm really happy about the performance of our girls,” Volunteers head coach Steven Fair says. “We had tremendous practices the last couple of days. I didn't have to say much in practice. They just go out and do their part and they go out and do it with diligence. They go out and do it well.”   Records   When Andrew Jackson takes to the Florence Center court for Saturday's 2A title game, the Volunteers will boast a 27-3 in addition to the perfect 12-0 record it posted against regional opponents. The season ends for Lake City having finished with a 17-8 overall showing and its 10-2 it scored against region opponents.    Quarter-By-Quarter   Andrew Jackson entered this tournament as defending champions – and once again as this year's team to beat. The Volunteers resembled it in the first quarter, jumping out to a 20-8 lead with one complete.    The Volunteers continued to resemble such a team in the second quarter. As both teams entered their respective locker rooms to discuss second half strategy, Andrew Jackson was cruising by a margin of 42-15 over the Panthers.    As Andrew Jackson's advantage increased into the thirties, this game became eerily reminiscent of many Volunteers wins throughout the regular season where it not only won but dominated. The score at the end of three stanzas would be 73-21.    Everything was academic at that point as it was a matter of how big the Andrew Jackson margin of victory would be as opposed to if the Volunteers would win. An emphatic 63-point margin of victory would punch Andrew Jackson's ticket to Saturday's 2A championship game.    Primetime Performers   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2242-crop-3087x2027-1741181271.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210098" style="width:574px;height:auto" /></figure>   When one player has as many points as an entire team, that winning team knows it had a great evening – or, in this case, afternoon – at the office. That applied to [player_tooltip player_id='175322' first='Tamia' last='Watkins']. The senior and Elon commit led the way for Andrew Jackson with 33 points.   “Her game speaks for itself,” Fair says about Watkins. “She's a tremendous ballplayer, but she's an even better person. And I thought today might have been her best game of the season. And the fact that she did so many great things – rebounding the ball, assists, blocked shots, steals, she was all over the court.”   “Tamia – she definitely will be missed and we want to make sure we put her in a position to succeed at the next level,” Fair says. “Whenever she wants to get in the gym, the gym is open for her and (whenever) she wants to comeback and pour into the younger folks.”   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2293-crop-2759x1811-1741181407.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210100" style="width:566px;height:auto" /></figure>   Watkins could not have engineered the Volunteers' emphatic offensive onslaught all by herself. That also included [player_tooltip player_id='383418' first='Ni'yonna' last='Asbelle'] who added 24 to Andrew Jackson's efforts. She injured herself in the third quarter but re-entered the contest in the ensuing frame.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2321-2-crop-3428x2251-1741181547.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210102" style="width:571px;height:auto" /></figure>   [player_tooltip player_id='587310' first='Trinity' last='Delly'] was another reason why this contest had zero drama. Delly would add 15 in another winning Andrew Jackson showing. Delly is one of four juniors on this season's Volunteers rendition.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2357-crop-2270x1491-1741181704.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210104" style="width:573px;height:auto" /></figure>   Also aiding Andrew Jackson's efforts was [player_tooltip player_id='395216' first='Emiley' last='McCall']. She would finish with nine points. The Volunteers would connect on five 3-pointers as part of its offensive outburst. Three departed from McCall's hands.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2225-crop-1833x1204-1741181973.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210106" style="width:574px;height:auto" /></figure>   On what was a rough afternoon overall for the Panthers, a bright spot occurred in the form of an eighth grader set to be a centerpiece of its immediate future. That eighth grader is [player_tooltip player_id='672385' first='Hannah' last='Riles'] who led all Lake City point-compilers with 14.   “We watched several films on Hannah, and we picked up some of her tendencies,” Fair says. “And we made it where (our) girls were so hungry they were really fussing about who wanted to guard her.”    So Long, Seniors   Lake City's three seniors are Tyra Jones, [player_tooltip player_id='832067' first='Jayda' last='Burgess'] and Ashlyn Byrd.    Upper State Championship: Eau Claire vs. Clinton   With Andrw Jackson in the state championship game, it needed an opponent to determine a 2A champion on Saturday. The Upper State championship contest would do just that.   Eau Claire had last qualified for a semifinal matchup in 2010. The victories the Shamrocks had earned over Ninety Six, Blacksburg and Mid-Carolina allowed Eau Claire to make the trek east on Interstate 20 to Florence.   As for Clinton, the Red Devils had put themselves on the map as a premier 3A team, but dropped down to the 2A ranks beginning with this year. Because of wins over Liberty, Landrum and Fairfield Central, Clinton would ensure it would be playing in Florence on Mar. 4.    As region rivals, Eau Claire and Clinton have become very well-acquainted. It would be the Shamrocks coming away with the 41-30 win and the berth into the 2A final. It is the first appearance for Eau Claire in a championship game since 1998.   “It's very, very big for our school,” Shamrocks coach Ashley Gilmore says on the vibes across the Eau Claire community. “Everybody has been excited. The kids all across the school, the faculty and staff. Everybody has been excited. We haven't been sleeping while everybody else was excited. So, we're just excited to be able to make this appearance on Saturday.”   Records   Eau Claire will go into Mar. 8's contest with Andrew Jackson having posted a 19-8 plus its 7-3 mark against Region 3-AA opponents. A banner season comes to a close for Clinton following its 23-6 overall record and its 10-0 Region 3-AA record.   Remember What Happened Last Time?   Since these are a pair of region rivals, Eau Claire and Clinton did have a pair of get-togethers earlier in the season with both going the way of the Red Devils. These two teams had a home-and-home in early Feburary. On the sixth of that month, the Red Devils picked up a 36-28 win at home and earned a 34-31 win on the road at Eau Claire.    Quarter-By-Quarter   The opening eight minutes were very much to Eau Claire's liking as the Shamrocks not only provided timely offense but held Clinton to only one field goal. With one in the books, the Shamrocks built an 11-3 edge over the Red Devils.    The ensuing eight minutes were very much to Clinton's liking as the Red Devils would trim its deficit to three. As both teams would mull over second half strategy, Eau Claire's lead was only 15-12 over Clinton.   Both teams would put together their most productive offensive frames of the game up to that point. One quarter remained to determine Andrew Jackson's opponent with the Shamrocks leading the Red Devils by a margin of 32-24.   A key a Clinton would have to be to overcome its offensive struggles. While the Red Devils showed signs of it in the third, Eau Claire's defense held Clinton to only six points in the final frame and make it official that the Shamrocks would take on the Volunteers on Saturday.    Primetime Performers   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2632-crop-1844x1211-1741182199.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210108" style="width:512px;height:auto" /></figure>   [player_tooltip player_id='378764' first='Destinee' last='Tiller'] overcame early struggles to lead all scorers for the game. Tiller concluded her evening having scored 14 points. Eight of the senior's 14 were tallied in the third quarter when she keyed Eau Claire's third quarter scoring binge.   “In the first half, she kind of struggled offensively,” Gilmore says of Tiller. “I told her she's got to keep digging. I told her she's got to make the game come to her. So, in the third quarter, she allowed the game to come more to her and things began to fall in place for her.”    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2491-crop-2235x1468-1741182320.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210110" style="width:519px;height:auto" /></figure>   The Shamrocks' early efforts were spearheaded by [player_tooltip player_id='496267' first='Milaysha' last='Chisholm']. Another 2025, she concluded Tuesday's game having added 13 to the Eau Claire cause. Chisholm was the Shamrocks' leading scorer at the break with seven.   “The seniors wanted to go out with a bang,” Gilmore says. “That was it. We came too far to end today. So, they put the work in, they kept digging and we're going to the championship game on Saturday.”    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2789-crop-2110x1385-1741182452.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210112" style="width:512px;height:auto" /></figure>   Eau Claire also benefitted greatly from the 10 points that were placed on the board courtesy of [player_tooltip player_id='444361' first='Syteria' last='Bethel'] – another senior. Bethel has the build of a big but can drain 3-pointers like a guard – as she proved as she had two of the Shamrocks' three 3-pointers.   “She's a big that can come out and take that shot,” Gilmore says of Bethel. “I tell her if I've got the confidence in you, you've got to have the confidence in yourself. So, that was big for us.”    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/IMG_2694-crop-2459x1614-1741182603.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1210114" style="width:511px;height:auto" /></figure>   The Red Devils overall had a rough day at the Florence Center. Clinton's leading scorer turned out to be McKenzie Clark – a junior. Clark finished with six points. She stands at 5-foot-11 and can provide plenty of production as a wing.   So Long, Seniors   [player_tooltip player_id='589680' first='Bryanna' last='Belton'], Ry'Daijia Mars and Ja'Neshia Burton will soon trade in their Clinton uniforms for caps and gowns.

When the 2A schools had their turn to determine who would be its championship finalists, we were already two-thirds of the way through the semifinal schedule.