North Augusta and Military Magnet Repeat as South Carolina Girls Basketball Championships Continue Title Trend

Out of the five classifications at the South Carolina High School League girls basketball state championships, only Class 2A was guaranteed to crown a new state champion which was Landrum.

Through two days of the "Weekend of Champions," order was served as Berkeley, Walhalla and Blythewood all retained their respective titles.

On Saturday, Military Magnet and North Augusta made it 5-5 for repeat championships.

Lady Yellow Jackets Move a Step Closer to State History

North Augusta head coach Al Young is a former wide receiver who’s a member of the South Carolina State Athletics Hall of Fame.

After 37 years of coaching boys basketball and track at North Augusta, he came out of retirement to work with girls’ basketball.

It’s been more than a smooth transition for Young. On Saturday, the Lady Yellow Jackets defeated Westside 63-50 in the Class 4A final.

“I thought football was my first love,” Young said. “I’m not sure now.”

Another Tough Rematch with Westside

It was the seventh state title in 10 years for the Lady Yellow Jackets, fifth with Young at the helm. They also tied Blackville-Hilda, the 63-50 win over Westside.

South Carolina girls' basketball North Augusta — North Augusta guard Ashley Walker is guarded by Westside's Harmoni Earn. | Thomas Grant Jr.

The win tied North Augusta for second-most in state history behind Lower Richland, Hollywood, Marion and Blackville-Hilda. Only Bowman and the legendary Monetta teams of the 1930s have more with eight titles.

For the second straight year, the Lady Yellow Jackets had to defeat the Lady Rams. Messiah Williams scored four straight points to help them take a 6-0 advantage.

Down 16-7, Westside responded with a 10-3 run sparked by six straight points from forward Makyhia Paul. The Lady Rams’ defense also forced North Augusta into turnovers to help stay close through the second quarter.

Westside briefly tied the game at 24-24. With two seconds left, Taylor Boney scored her only points of the game on a layup to put North Augusta up 26-24 at halftime.

Second Half Adjustments Help North Augusta

Guard Celana Grant, who scored a team-high 15 points along with Azaria Sapp, said they was implored to cut down on the turnovers.

“We turned the ball over a lot in the first half and we also turned it over in the second half,” she said. “But we made better decisions. We were looking for each other and we made great plays.”

After a 3-pointer by Monasia Clinkscales brought Westside within a point, North Augusta answered with eight straight points and increased its lead to 10 for the first time.

The Lady Rams got no closer than five the rest of the way. A jumper by Ashley Walker put the Lady Yellow Jackets up 44-34 going into the fourth quarter.

North Augusta extended its lead as many as 16 points before the final buzzer.

Lady Eagles post weekend’s most dominant performance

The ‘machine’ known as Military Magnet continues to roll along in Class A.

South Carolina basketball Military Magnet — Military Magnet after winning the Class A title | S.C. High School League

The Lady Eagles led from start to finish in 70-21 rout of Great Falls. They were already ahead 16-2 before the Lady Red Devils made their second and last field goal of the first quarter.

Eighth-grader Mariah Brown provided problems on both sides of the basketball. She outscored the entire Great Falls’ roster with 25 points, seven rebounds and was one of five players with three or more steals.

Guard Xahar Pinckney had a team-high five of their 17 steals while also forcing 31 turnovers.

In leading as many as 51 points, Military Magnet kept Greats Falls in double digits in all four quarters. In fact, the 28 points scored in the second quarter to go up 50-13 at halftime was more than Great Falls’ entire scoring output.

This was the fifth state title in six state title appearances in seven years by Military Magnet. Great Falls was making its first championship appearance since 1979.