Top-ranked Jackets sweep T-Breds in region opener

Jan. 8—BOYS

No. 1 NORTH AUGUSTA 61, SOUTH AIKEN 49

The North Augusta boys' basketball team knows it's going to take everyone's best shot every night.

That comes with the territory of an undefeated start of the season, and it's amplified by the Jackets' ascension to the No. 1 ranking in Class AAAA.

It cranked up even higher Friday with the start of Region 4-AAAA play, with the defending league champs opening up with a road date against a tough South Aiken team.

As expected, North Augusta took a few punches. The thing about these Jackets, though, is that they swing back.

North Augusta overcame a seven-point deficit late in the first half to tie the game, then went on a 12-4 run in the fourth quarter to put it away for a 61-49 win that was every bit as scrappy as the Jackets expected.

"I think we showed a lot of resilience. South Aiken took the game to us in the first half," North Augusta head coach Tony Harrell said. "They were faster than us. They got more rebounds. They were getting to the basket. I think in the second half we did a much better job of controlling the pace. We went to more of a half-court trapping defense instead of a full-court, slowed them down some and made them work more in the half court. Offensively, in the second half we got the shots we wanted."

South Aiken (6-8, 0-1 Region 4-AAAA) was within four points early in the fourth quarter, but North Augusta (17-0, 1-0) quickly reeled off seven consecutive points. Amarri Wilcher splashed a deep 3-pointer a few possessions later, and just like that the Jackets were ahead 56-42 with too little time left for a comeback.

"They're the No. 1 team in the state, and they just keep coming at you. For about three and a half quarters, we handled it and did well," said South Aiken head coach Michael Prandy. "There's some things we've got to get better at and come together as a team, because if they're the best team in the state you can say we're not too far behind, hopefully. But if we don't correct some of those small things, then it's just going to be the same song, different verse.

"They're a great team. Tony does a great job with those guys. They're athletic. They're smart, high basketball IQ. They're going to give a lot of people trouble going deep in the playoffs, and we hope that we can get things corrected on our end and give them a run when we go over there (on Jan. 24)."

Four Jackets scored in double figures, and as a team they buried eight 3-pointers. Wilcher made some big shots late and scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half to share team-high honors with DaRon Dunbar. Elijah Hall scored 11, and Tanner Harrell added 10.

Once again, the Jackets showed off their depth. Nine different players scored, and there were additional significant contributions beyond the score sheet — freshman point guard Jordan Rouse made good decisions with the ball in crunch time, and Cam'ron Hallingquest battled smartly down low when the Jackets' bigs were dealing with some foul trouble.

"I think that's one of their strengths is they're just so deep," Prandy said. "They can just put one guy on you, then come in with another guy and another guy. If you're not mentally and physically prepared for that, eventually your legs get tired and that's I think kind of what happened. They're that stick at the top and that's where we want to be, and I think tonight was a good gauge of some areas where we're doing well and some areas where we've got to get better."

Prandy was pleased with the way his players showed they can compete at a high level against a high-level team, and the T-Breds threatened to take a big lead into the break with a 23-16 advantage with 2:14 left in the first half.

North Augusta answered with a 10-3 run from there, tying the game at 26 at the midway mark.

Jeffery Jackson scored 14 of his game-high 17 points in the first half, Tyreke Williams bounced back from a hard fall going for a rebound to score nine points, Jasuan Phillips hit two 3-pointers and scored eight points, and Terrence Smith added seven points.

Prandy said his team didn't get overwhelmed and kept battling, but too many little problems — like passing up open shots in the second half — made a tall task insurmountable.

The late scoring run to end the first half gave North Augusta a boost, and then the Jackets made the adjustments they needed to start region play with a big road win.

"We don't panic. We've been in these situations before, and the No. 1 thing is don't panic," Harrell said. "Keep playing hard. Keep playing sound defense. Clean up the areas that we were not doing as well, and we were going to be OK in the second half. And we did that."

North Augusta will face another tough road test Tuesday at Aiken High, while South Aiken will be back in action Friday at Airport.

NA 13 13 18 17 — 61

SA 16 10 12 11 — 49

North Augusta (17-0, 1-0 Region 4-AAAA): DaRon Dunbar 4 2-2 12, Amarri Wilcher 5 0-2 12, Elijah Hall 3 4-5 11, Tanner Harrell 4 0-0 10, Jordan Rouse 2 1-1 6, DaMario Saxon 3 0-0 6, Maliq Richards 1 0-0 2, Khaleed Heywood 0 1-2 1, Cam'ron Hallingquest 0 1-2 1, Dylan Evans 0 0-2 0. Totals 22 9-18 61.

3-pointers: Dunbar (2), Wilcher (2), Harrell (2), Hall, Rouse.

South Aiken (6-8, 0-1 Region 4-AAAA): Jeffery Jackson 7 2-3 17, Tyreke Williams 4 1-1 9, Jasuan Phillips 3 0-0 8, Terrence Smith 3 1-3 7, Tylan Creech 1 2-2 4, KJ Jenkins 1 1-3 4. Totals 19 7-12 49.

3-pointers: Phillips (2), Jackson, Jenkins.

GIRLS

No. 1 NORTH AUGUSTA 45, SOUTH AIKEN 8

A rough start for both teams only stayed that way for South Aiken as top-ranked North Augusta cruised to its 62nd consecutive region victory with a 45-8 win.

It took North Augusta (14-1, 1-0 Region 4-AAAA) 4:05 for its first made basket of the game, while South Aiken (2-10, 0-1) remained scoreless for the first 5:28. Kenedi Wright's bucket for the Jackets was followed by three more baskets in the quarter, and the Jackets continued to earn trips to the free throw line en route to a 14-1 lead after 8 minutes.

The offense picked up in the second quarter for North Augusta, and the defense turned up the heat against a South Aiken team that is without point guard Kiah McDuffie this season due to injury. Steal after steal led to layup after layup as the Jackets surged ahead 27-1 at the half.

Celena Grant led the way for North Augusta with 13 points, and Ansley Gartrell joined her in double figures with 11. Wright scored nine despite a 1-for-8 night from the free throw line — the Jackets were 9-for-27 as a team — and Jadah O'Bryant scored seven.

A running clock brought the second half to a quick end, but not before South Aiken's Shamariya Jenkins and Janiya Pollard could each hit a 3-pointer to give the T-Breds the bulk of their offense.

North Augusta led 39-4 after three quarters before finishing off the win.

The Jackets will look to extend their region winning streak Tuesday at Aiken, while the T-Breds will have Tuesday off before visiting Airport on Friday.

NA 14 13 12 6 — 45

SA 1 0 3 4 — 8

North Augusta (14-1, 1-0 Region 4-AAAA): Celena Grant 5 3-4 13, Ansley Gartrell 4 2-3 11, Kenedi Wright 4 1-8 9, Jadah O'Bryant 3 0-4 7, Madison McCain 0 2-4 2, Messiah Williams 1 0-0 2, Tamia Timbers 0 1-2 1, Ashley Walker 0 0-2 0. Totals 17 9-27 45.

3-pointers: Gartrell, O'Bryant.

South Aiken (2-10, 0-1 Region 4-AAAA): Shamariya Jenkins 1 1-2 4, Janiya Pollard 1 0-0 3, Briel Basnight 0 1-2 1. Totals 2 2-4 8.

3-pointers: Jenkins, Pollard.