A.C. Flora Tip-Off Classic: 2024/25

There are a plethora of early-season tournaments happening across South Carolina as the 2021-22 season has commenced. One of those early-season events took place at the home court of A.C. Flora High School. On Saturday afternoon, the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, the Falcons hosted the A.C. Flora Tip-Off Classic which featured eight teams, predominantly hailing from the Midlands, who were looking to begin their respective seasons with victories. Prep Girls Hoops made it to AC Flora to take in what was an exciting day of basketball at the home of the Falcons. Here is a look at who from the freshman and sophomore classes stood out amongst the rest. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-354752" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/11/9F8D2C5C-5562-4998-9849-FB86EEEF0C27-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="185224" first="Terriana" last="Gray"] – 2024 – AC Flora HS</strong> – Gray had plenty to say on Saturday afternoon for her Falcons – such as being a Gray-cious host for AC Flora's event. She particularly made her presence known in the second and third quarters. Gray managed to get to the rim in addition to drawing contact which placed her at the free throw line. She will find a way to finish at the rim when she attacks and she does so with a great deal of quickness either in out of a half court set or in transition. Gray finished AC Flora's game with Blythewood having scored 24 points – 22 of which came in the second and third frames in what was an emphatic Falcons win. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-354749" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/11/8A3BEA69-E917-45E8-ABF3-AAEC2B349718-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="175350" first="Jasmine" last="Frierson"] – 2024 – AC Flora HS</strong> – Falcons coach Jacob Thompson will probably tell anyone that between Gray and Frierson that his team's sophomore class can match up against anyone's in the Palmetto State. She also had a hand in the first-quarter 3-point shooting contest that broke out amongst AC Flora as she too had one of the made treys. Frierson grabbed rebounds, deflected Blythewood passes, finished strong at the rim and absorbed contact which placed her at the free throw line. She scored all of her points in the first half and finished the game having tallied six in total. <strong>Santana Reese – 2024 – Airport HS</strong> – Reese looks to be an important piece in what head coach Chantel Amick hopes is a winning season for the Eagles. She is an all-around hustler who does not take plays off on either end of the floor. Reese makes her presence known on defense and also managed to set up the Airport offense in the half court.  Reese finished the game with seven points with all seven coming in the first half of play. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-354761" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/11/E085D966-2AB2-4D35-8830-E7B46E40CE5D-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="253112" first="Norriyah" last="Bradley"] – 2024 – Aiken HS</strong> – Bradley showed many attributes on Saturday afternoon indicative of someone who has been playing at the varsity level since she was in the eighth grade. She made efficient passes in transition, set the Green Hornets offense in half court schemes and got to the line after drawing contact. Bradley had one of those classic “not how you start but how you finish” sort of games which coaches love to see out of their key players. She only had two points after the first quarter and through three frames but managed to conclude her game having scored nine after tallying seven in the fourth quarter. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-354768" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/11/2EAE9900-CE3E-4AF8-9224-E5E612F18730.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="261906" first="Adriana" last="Henderson"] – 2024 – White Knoll HS</strong> – Henderson answered the call for White Knoll. She picked up on Saturday, in many ways, where she left off in her freshman season when she had a breakout 2020-21. Henderson showed off her ball handling skills as well as her 3-point shooting accuracy – she had the first field goal of the game for the Timberwolves after Aiken opened with a 4-0 scoring binge. She ran out to play perimeter defense, gathered rebounds, set her team's offense up in the half court and made a good deal of defensive plays. Henderson turned defense into offense via her transition game and took shots over taller defenders as well as intercepted passes. She had 16 points to lead her team against the Green Hornets. <strong>Imani Patterson – 2024 – Ridgeland/Hardeeville HS</strong> – The Jaguars proved to be one of the few exceptions to the norm where Saturday's tip-off event at AC Flora featured mostly Midlands teams. Patterson, along with Scott, was one of the five starters that took the court for coach Janie Hodges' Jaguars group. She was effective as a midrange shooter and proved how accurate she can be also from 3-point range. Patterson would draw contact in the third quarter of the Jaguars' game with the Mid-Carolina Rebels and would go to the free throw line. She would turn out to be the Jaguars' leading scorer in said game as she concluded with seven points. <strong>Angel Mayes – 2025 – Airport HS</strong> – It is safe to say that with Mayes being in her freshman season at Airport that this Eagle is ready for takeoff. Mayes adds to the young talent as well as the depth that the Eagles will present this season. She stays active when she is on the floor, bolstered Airport's rebounding efforts and can get from one end of the floor to the other in a quick amount of time. Mayes was also on point from deep as she drained a trio of treys in the second and third quarters in the Eagles' Saturday afternoon contest with Spring Valley. Mayes concluded with 13 points. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="268138" first="Zie'l" last="Ratchford"] – 2025 – Spring Valley HS</strong> – The Vikings enter the 2021-22 season with an intriguing mix of veteran and young talent in coach Megan Assey's sixth season at the controls. Ratchford, a freshman, enters into the youth part of that equation – and she earned plenty of playing time in Spring Valley's first game which was against Airport. She is quick with the ball with her hands and also displayed plenty of energy and activity on defense. Ratchford also managed to draw contact and free throw line. Coming off the bench, she was kept scoreless in the first half before finishing the game having scored six points. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-354769" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/11/420CEE9C-9947-4B8C-BC7E-35F34F10F541-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="185418" first="Amoura" last="Williams"] – 2025 – Spring Valley HS</strong> – If Saturday was any indication, Amoura will be giving those who eat, sleep, drink and breathe Vikings green and gold plenty to love. Williams got the start for the Vikings and gave her team plenty of production from the foul line. Williams goes strong to the rim and proved to be really adept at guarding inbounds passes. She scored on a consistent basis as she had at least one made shot in every quarter except the second frame. Williams finished the game against Airport with a 13-point outing, including going three for three from the line.