Lower State 1A Newcomers: New Hampton County Home, Same Lyric

Nothing can stay the same forever – that certainly applies to high school classifications across South Carolina.    Every few seasons, the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) reclassifies schools based on enrollment. The last round of reclassification took place prior to the 2024-25 season and saw a number of schools move up in class.    This time, the bulk of the reclassifications saw schools moving down in class. This included a large number of schools that went from 2A to 1A. This means that those schools looking to be the last team standing in March will likely have to deal with the behemoth that is Military Magnet.    We took a look at the new Upper State 1A participants in an earlier article and now turn our attention to the Lower State.    Edisto   The Cougars were last affected by reclassification prior to the COVID year of 2020-21. That year saw Edisto drop from 3A to 2A.    Edisto's program has struggled for the better part of a decade as the last time the Tigers had a double-digit winning season was in 2015-16. That season would see the Tigers finish with a 10-5 overall record and a 6-3 mark against region foes. Edisto was a 2A combatant that year.    Last season's Cougars won five games – and none against any region opponents, placing Edisto on the outside looking in of the 2A state tournament picture. Two of Edisto's victories last season were against Branchville and two were at the expense of Calhoun County.    A bright spot for last season's Cougars was Kennedi Hampton – a multi-sport athlete who also competes in volleyball as well as track and field. Hampton averaged 8.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.2 steals per contest. Another bright spot from last season's Cougars was Sietaria Moody who brought down 4.8 rebounds per contest in her sophomore season at Edisto.   Hampton County   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/01/IMG_8850.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-844650" style="width:607px;height:auto" /></figure>   The 2026-27 season looks to be a momentous one for the Hurricanes as Hampton County will compete on its own home court for the first time since the Wade Hampton-Estill consolidation took place.    A solid basketball team is set to take to that new Hampton County court. Coach Anthony Elam's Hurricanes put together a 15-8 record last season. Add to the fact that the Hurricanes would like to get the bad taste out of their mouths of last year's first-round playoff defeat at Philip Simmons and it creates the potential for another dangerous Hampton County assembling.    Two seniors graduated from last season's Hurricanes team.    The centerpiece of all things Hampton County is [player_tooltip player_id='599148' first='Lyric' last='Jones'] who is advancing into her senior season as a Hurricane. She played in 21 of Hampton County's 23 contests last season and averaged 21 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 2.3 assists per matchup last season. Kaliyah Dobson and Faith Brooks greatly bolstered the team's rebounding efforts.   Whale Branch   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/01/IMG_6025-2.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1603671" style="width:585px;height:auto" /></figure>   Lots of noise was made by the 2025-26 version of Whale Branch. The Warriors were in the win column on 17 of its 24 tries. This was a poetical reversal from the last time that Whale Branch was in the 1A ranks (2023-24) when it dropped 17 of its 24 contests.    How a team does in its region ultimately determines its tournament seed – and the Warriors finished, in one of the tougher regions in the state, only behind a Lake Marion team that went 10-for-10 against region foes. Whale Branch's banner season came to an abrupt end in the first round by way of Marion.    The last time a Warriors team won this many games was at the beginning of the decade. The 2021-22 Whale Branch team claimed 19 victories – including 11 in its region.    While Whale Branch did lose a key transfer to 5A Ridge View, [player_tooltip player_id='1319122' first='Kelis' last='Fields'] is a multi-sport athlete who also has played softball and volleyball throughout her athletic career. Fields played in 24 games last season while averaging 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 points, 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.   Burke   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/04/IMG_4290.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1451468" style="width:594px;height:auto" /></figure>   It appeared as if last season's Bulldogs were a classic tale of two teams. There was the Burke team that played on its home court – then there was the Burke team away from its home court.    Last season, Burke had an overall record of 16-12. The Bulldogs went 10-3 when playing on its home floor but 4-7 on the road. Interestingly enough, when the Bulldogs were on the road in last season's 2A state tournament, it won its opening round postseason contest against Buford. When Burke returned home, the team was on the receiving end of a 74-56 defeat to Lake Marion.    It was in the 2023-24 season when Burke was last in the 1A ranks – the Bulldogs finished 16-9 that year.    The core four of last season's Bulldogs assembling played in all 28 contests last season. That included [player_tooltip player_id='925568' first='Nathaya' last='Phoenix'] who averaged 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game. That also included [player_tooltip player_id='1180351' first='Kendall' last='Smith'] who, like Phoenix, is also advancing into her junior season. Smith averaged 8.6 points, six rebounds and 2.6 steals per matchup. [player_tooltip player_id='1094089' first='D'Zyur' last='Legare'] is another of the standout 2028s for the Bulldogs. She averaged 7.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals per matchup. Burke also benefitted greatly from a solid breakout freshman campaign from [player_tooltip player_id='1833364' first='Tahlayjah' last='Butler']. She would average 6.3 points, 2.3 steals and two rebounds.   Andrews   The program at Andrews would likely rather forget the 2022-23 season when it did not win a single contest that season.    Since then, the Yellow Jackets have gone from one win to three victories to six occasions in the win column last season. Andrews had a promising season going as it began the 2025-26 campaign with a 6-6 record prior to finishing the season with an 11-game losing streak. This included all 10 of its matchups in its region.     Andrews did score a pair of victories over Hemingway as well as a pair of wins over Johnsonville during its non-region stretch.    Two players for the Yellow Jackets were the nucleus to everything Andrews was looking to get accomplished. One of them was [player_tooltip player_id='1123438' first='Camaria' last='Gibson'] who is advancing into her senior season. Gibson played in all 23 games last season and averaged 13.7 points and 1.5 steals per game in 2025-26. The other was Makayla Singleton who played in 20 of the Yellow Jackets' 23 matchups last season. She averaged 10.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game.   Kingstree   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/01/IMG_6591.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1667388" style="width:611px;height:auto" /></figure>   Considering how Kingstree has been consistently ranked as one of the top 2A teams in the Palmetto State the last several seasons, there are plenty of teams still in the 2A field that are overjoyed the Blazers are now the 1A realm's problem to deal with.    Coach James Price's Blazers finished with an overall record of 19-5 – including a 10-2 showing against opponents in its region. That lone pair of losses were against an Atlantic Collegiate team that won last season's 2A Lower State championship.    Kingstree earned a dominant first-round tournament victory over Woodland before suffering a close defeat to a Timberland team that reached last season's Lower State finals.    When talking Kingstree basketball, one name comes to mind. That name is [player_tooltip player_id='490767' first='Nay'dia' last='Shaw'] – one of the more dynamic bigs in South Carolina. Shaw played in all 24 games last season for the Blazers while averaging a double-double of 19.8 points and 11 rebounds plus five assists and 4.7 steals per matchup. Another of the Blazers' key players is Kamari McCrea who bolstered the team's rebounding efforts by averaging 5.2 per contest.    Marion   Marion is changing classifications for the first time since the COVID season of 2020-21. For two seasons before that COVID year, the Swamp Foxes competed in the 3A ranks before dropping down to 2A.    The 2025-26 version of the Swamp Foxes also represented the first time a Marion team had won at least 18 games since the 2019-20 team. That team finished with a record of 29-2 and won a 3A Lower State championship.    Last season's team earned a first-round victory over Whale Branch then defeated Chesterfield in the second round. The Swamp Foxes' season ended at the hands of Timberland in the Lower State semifinals.    While last season's Swamp Foxes graduated a bevy of seniors, one that has yet to graduate is Ashanti Gause who is a 2028. Gause competed in 27 contests last season for Marion while averaging 7.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.    Mullins   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/01/eZy-Watermark_08-01-2025_12-22-42-2100PM.jpeg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1132814" style="width:528px;height:auto" /></figure>   Throughout the 2010s, the Auctioneers of Mullins were among the winningest programs in the state with Myron Gerald at the helm. Mullins made three appearances in state championship games throughout that span – including a victory at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season over Christ Church.   Last season was a far distance from those Aucs teams of the 2010s. Mullins won only three games – two of which were against in-state opponents. One was at the expense of Marion and the other was against Hunter-Kinard-Tyler.    Following that victory over the Trojans, the Auctioneers would finish the season with a seven-game losing streak.    The Auctioneers do present one of the more solid backcourts in the state. Two 2028 guards solidify said backcourt. One is [player_tooltip player_id='1052688' first='Breanna' last='Ford'] who played in all 20 games last season and averaged 14.8 points per game. The other is [player_tooltip player_id='1052687' first='Na'Riyah' last='Woodberry'] who also played in all 20 of the Aucs' contests last season while averaging 12.8 points per contest.

Nothing can stay the same forever – that certainly applies to high school classifications across South Carolina.