Andrew Jackson exacts revenge in win over Bishop England to advance to state title game

Andrew Jackson beat Bishop England 56-33 to advance to the championship game of the Class 2A Girls Basketball State Tournament Saturday night.

This game carried extra meaning for the Volunteers.

The two schools met in the same round a year ago, which saw Andrew Jackson lose after getting outscored 17-4 in the second half to blow a double-digit halftime lead.

“It feels so great to be in a position like this, especially the way we lost last year in the semifinal,” Andrew Jackson head coach Steven Fair said. “We watched a video of a news clip of Bishop England talking about how they had unfinished business, so I made a statement to the girls to make sure their business stays unfinished, and the girls, they responded in such a marvelous way.”

The biggest difference between last year’s matchup and Saturday night’s was the Class 2A Girls Basketball Player of the Year: Andrew Jackson junior forward Tamia Watkins.

Watkins led all scorers with 19 points, and she exhibited her usual dominance on the inside, getting good looks at the basket and preventing Bishop England from getting many of its own.

Watkins played her sophomore year at Legion Collegiate Academy after spending her freshman year with the Volunteers.

While Watkins wasn’t a part of Andrew Jackson’s semifinal loss last year, this game was still a big deal for her.

“I feel good,” Watkins said. “I knew it was coming. Can’t nobody stop us, but we’re going to stay humble. I feel really good. My ninth-grade year, we went to the state championship. We fell short, and it felt terrible. This game, we were tired, but at the end of the day, we want to win.”

The game started out very tight, with Bishop England opening the second quarter with a quick 4-0 run in the opening two minutes to tie the game at 13.

However, those would be the lone points Andrew Jackson would allow as the Volunteers closed the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 23-13 lead into halftime.

Coming out of halftime, Andrew Jackson started to exert its dominance, outscoring Bishop England 19-7 in the third quarter.

Senior guard Emiley McCall hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the sound of the collective effervescence of the Andrew Jackson faithful echoed in the arena as the Volunteers entered the fourth quarter leading by 22.

She scored seven of her 10 points in the third.

“My first-half shots, they just were not falling, but my coaches and my teammates, they told me to stick with it and they’re going to fall,” McCall said. “And that was just a big shot, great pass by (Ni’Yonna Asbelle), to just roll over into the fourth quarter so we can finish the game out strong.”

Andrew Jackson dominated to close the fourth quarter, thwarting any semblance of a late run for Bishop England as the Volunteers walked off the court lower state champions.

Sophomore Asbelle, who scored 15 points for the Volunteers, said it felt good to get revenge on the team that beat them in the state tournament last season.

Asbelle’s two 3-pointers to open up the third quarter pushed Andrew Jackson past its second-half point total from a year ago.

“I just couldn’t get caught into the hype,” Asbelle said. “Coming out with a few threes, we had to keep the lead going, increasing the lead and not get too comfortable, and we had to keep getting back on defense and keep pushing through. We weren’t trying to go for another four-point second half.”

Another thing of note for Andrew Jackson is that it got this far without sophomore forward Ayona Alexander, who averaged 18.5 points and 12.6 rebounds for the Volunteers before injuring her foot in mid-January.

Alexander was at the game Saturday and not wearing a walking boot as she watched her team play. Fair is excited about the prospect of his team’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder returning for the state championship game.

“It’s just like waiting on a gift at Christmas,” Fair said. “You ask for a gift, and you’re not sure if your parents are going to get you that gift, but you’re praying and hoping that you get that gift, and that’s where we are.”

Andrew Jackson will play Landrum in the state championship game at The Florence Center in Florence at 2 p.m. March 1.