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Jackets blow away Mustangs to clinch Region 4-AAAA title

kyle dawson, aiken standard, s.c.
·5 min read

Feb. 7—No. 1 NORTH AUGUSTA 63, MIDLAND VALLEY 34

It couldn't have started much worse Tuesday night for the North Augusta boys' basketball team.

Undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Class AAAA, the Jackets are well aware that they're going to take everyone's best shot — and that only intensifies as their winning streak continues.

This was going to be the biggest shot yet, a trip to a hostile environment at second-place Midland Valley with the Region 4-AAAA title on the line.

They trailed 9-2 early, playing without senior point guard Elijah Hall after he picked up his second foul just 2:47 into the game.

But these Jackets haven't gotten to this point in the season unscathed by accident. They relied on their depth once again, blowing the game open with a dominant third quarter to turn the game of the year into a laugher.

"Unbelievable," said North Augusta head coach Tony Harrell after his team's 63-34 victory that locked up the region title heading into next week's playoffs. "We talk about focus. If you take away the 9-2 run to start the game, our guys from that point on played outstanding basketball. I was kind of worried about it because we didn't play Friday. We had a week off. We started a little slow, and we did, but once we got our feet under us we played great basketball the rest of the game."

Not many programs in the state are equipped to handle losing a player like Hall, recognized before the season by the state coaches association as one of the top five seniors in Class AAAA, for an extended period of time. Enter Khaleed Heywood, and the Jackets (25-0, 7-0) headed into halftime with a 24-20 lead.

"We've established depth all year, and we don't flinch," Harrell said. "When somebody's not in the lineup or somebody goes out with foul trouble, it's the next man up. We embrace that mentality, and we expect whoever comes off that bench to go do the job. We tell them all the time, 'Do your job.' Tonight, the kids did their job."

Still, there was plenty of reason to be wary. The Jean Johnson Gymnasium has proven time and again over the years to be one of the area's most difficult environments when the fans are loud, and Antwone Bates gave them reason to be with a big slam dunk in the closing seconds of the first half.

There wasn't much to be loud about on the home side after that, though. Hall and DaRon Dunbar threw down consecutive jams to start the second half, and a Maliq Richards floater extended the lead to 10.

Not long after, DaMario Saxon and Hall rocked the rim a couple more times as the lead ballooned to 17, and Jordan Rouse made it an even 20 with a 3-pointer in the final minute of the third quarter.

"Defensive transition was kind of bad in the first half, and they got us on some offensive rebounds," Harrell said. "We told them if they cleaned up those two areas — which we did, we kept the ball in front of us and we got on the break. We had four, five dunks there in the third quarter, and our guys just fed off of that momentum."

Dunbar led the Jackets in scoring with 17 points. Hall scored all 11 of his points in the second half, and Rouse had 10.

Desmond Evans led Midland Valley (17-6, 6-2) with 16 points, and he hit three 3-pointers in the first half to keep Midland Valley within striking distance. Justin Lloyd scored eight, and Bates had six.

The Jackets still have one last regular season game remaining, at Airport on Thursday, and then will open the playoffs Feb. 15 at home against the No. 4 seed from Region 1-AAAA.

The Mustangs are locked into the No. 2 seed, and their next game will be their first-round playoff game Feb. 15 against the No. 3 seed from Region 1-AAAA.

Aiken High will be the region's No. 3 seed after beating South Aiken 63-59 to finish off the season sweep, and the T-Breds will be the No. 4 seed.

GIRLS

No. 1 NORTH AUGUSTA 60, MIDLAND VALLEY 26

It was business as usual in region play once again for the top-ranked North Augusta girls, who rolled past Midland Valley 60-26.

The Jackets (20-3, 7-0) are a win Thursday over Airport away from an undefeated run through Region 4-AAAA, and they've already locked up the league title. Tuesday's victory was their 68th in a row in region play dating back to their region opener in the 2015-16 season.

Nine different players scored for North Augusta, which led 17-3 after one quarter and continued to add to that lead the rest of the way despite Midland Valley (7-16, 2-6) hitting a handful of 3-pointers in the middle quarters.

Celena Grant led the way for North Augusta with 12 points, Ashley Walker had nine, and P'eris Smith and Kenedi Wright each had eight.

Alissa Brophy scored eight to lead Midland Valley, and Gena Hall and TK Dixon scored six apiece.

North Augusta will be the No. 1 seed from Region 4-AAAA and will host a first-round playoff game Feb. 16 against Region 1-AAAA's No. 4.

Midland Valley will be the No. 4 seed and will hit the road Feb. 16 to face the Region 1-AAAA champion.