Westwood Gets Revenge and Phillip Simmons Wins First Title at SCHSL Boys Basketball State Championships

Phillip Simmons and Westwood each have a brief history of existence in South Carolina compared to most their neighboring high schools in Charleston and Richland counties.

Relative Newcomers Make History with SCHSL Basketball Titles

On Thursday, their boys’ basketball teams both made history in winning state titles for the very first time.

Get that Get Back
Westwood guard D'Marcus Thomas

South Carolina boys' basketball Westwood — Westwood basketball team | Thomas Grant Jr.

When Westwood learned it would face defending Class 5A Division II champion Greenville, head coach Trent Robinson was privately smiling.

Payback for an Earlier Loss

Back in December, the Redhawks were defeated by the Red Raiders 50-45 in Florence. This was the first of three losses suffered this season by Westwood. The others came at the hands of Region 5-5A rivals Ridge View and Sumter.

Having split the regular-season meetings with the Blazers and Gamecocks, Greenville remained as the only opponent the Redhawks had not defeated this season.

“I knew once we got Greenville, that was our first thought,” Robinson said. “We were in Florence. We had an hour and 10 minute (trip) coming on the road back and it was Christmas break. So we were off five days. So, we have to sit through Christmas Day. So, I knew that was going to (get them mad).”

“We had marked our calendar,” senior guard D’Marcus Thomas said. “We were like ‘We’re going to get that get back’, every team that we lost to.”

Motivated by revenge and an opportunity to make school history, Westwood used a dominant defensive second half to dethrone the Red Raiders. The 67-55 win saw the Redhawks get 23 points from senior point guard D’Marcus Thomas and 23 points from Jayden Crews before he fouled out.

Slow Start for Redhawks

Greenville came out aggressively in jumping out to an 18-4 lead in the first quarter. Caden Coleman opened the game with a jumper and finished with 16 points.

South Carolina basketball Greenville — Greenville forward Gavin Griffin with the block against Westwood forward Daytron Cockfield. | Thomas Grant Jr.

Westwood fell behind 20-10 going into the second quarter after making just two field goals. It did fare better from the free-throw line, making all six attempts enroute to going 26-30 for the game.

The Redhawks made only 10-25 free throws in the first meeting with Greenville.

Crews connected on two of his four 3-pointers during a 14-4 run to bring Westwood within two points. Thomas had seven points during the run, but Greenville led 33-28 at halftime.

“Just one possession at a time,” Crews said. “We were down 10. It was 20-10, so we were just down. We were just going one possession at a time.”

Redhawks Take Control in the 3rd Quarter

After the two teams exchanged 4-0 runs, Westwood began to overwhelm the Red Raiders. A field goal by Cylan McLeod ignited a 14-0 run in which the Redhawks began constantly attacking the basket on offense and smoldered Greenville on defense.

Westwood forced two 10-second violations on the Red Raiders. It outscored them 20-6 in the third quarter to build a 48-39 advantage.

South Carolina basketball Westwood — Westwood's Quentin McGill and Jayden Crews with the double team against Greenville's Gavin Griffin. | Thomas Grant Jr.

“I don’t know of a lot of people that can run with us up and down,” Robinson said. “Even though they were athletic, we just have a little more players and were more deeper, especially on the defensive end. So, we were like let’s make this a down and back game. That was pretty much the gameplan.”

As Greenville became frustrated, Westwood continued to add to its lead. Forward A.J. Veal scored five straight points to extend the Redhawks’ lead to 14 points.

They also continued to show improvement from the free-throw line, finishing 25-32. Late in the game, Thomas made 5-6 free throws after he was fouled and a technical foul was issued on Greenville.

This gave the Redhawks their biggest lead at 15. With the reserves in the game, the Westwood fans and players began to celebrate the historic moment.

"We worked our tails off - 5 a.m. practices,” Crews said. “This means everything for us."

I thought he was crazy.
Phillip Simmons' guard Phillip Briggers

South Carolina boys' basketball — Phillip Simmons boys' basketball with the Class 2A title trophy. | Thomas Grant Jr.

Following the start of the school year, Phillip Simmons forward Hopper Afman made a bold prediction to fellow senior teammate Phillip Briggers.

“He told me in September,’ Briggers said. “He’s like ‘we’re going to win a state champion(ship). I thought he was crazy. No one had even done that. It’s not our expectation.”

Nearly six months later, he, Afman and the Phillip Simmons community were celebrating their 50-46 victory over High Point Academy at Colonial Life Arena in the Class 2A final.

Afman finished with 15 points and seven rebound and Dylan Morris had 13 points to lead the Iron Horses. For head coach Garrett Campbell, who like Westwood head coach Trent Robinson played college basketball for the College of Charleston, the title culminated a journey he started following the school's inception nine years ago.

“Nine years, started in the eighth year, started at the very bottom and to come here…with this crowd. The Iron Horse community, the Iron Horse nation, our student section, our fans, our family, our community to rally around this group is special to finish off the season. It’s unbelievable. I’m at a loss of words.”

High Point up early

South Carolina boys basketball final — Thomas Grant Jr.

Win or Go home.
Phillip Simmons guard Phillip Briggers

After a free throw by J’Sean Sanders, who finished with 14 points, Afman hit a jumper. A missed 3-pointer by Miller was rebounded by the Iron Horses which led to Morris making two ree throws to put them up 46-41 with 1:35 left.

A 3-pointer by Miller brought High Point within two points with 1:11 left. The Grizzlies got within 47-46 with 43 seconds left, but Phillip Simmons made 3-4 free throws to close out the victory.

“The last 8 minutes of our careers,” Driggers said. “We gave it all we got. It was win or go home. It was all or nothing at that point. So, we just gave it all we (had).”

SCHSL Boys Basketball State Championships Schedule

(Friday’s Games)

W.J. Keenan vs. Walhalla 2 p.m. (GIRLS)

Christ Church Episcopal vs. Fox Creek 4 p.m. (BOYS)

Blythewood vs. Wando 6 p.m. (GIRLS)

Ridge View vs. Ashley Ridge 8 p.m. (BOYS)

(Saturday’s Games)

Military Magnet vs. Great Falls noon (GIRLS)

C.A. Johnson vs. Bethune-Bowman 2 p.m. (BOYS)

North Augusta vs. Westside 4 p.m. (GIRLS)

North Augusta vs. South Pointe 6 p.m. (BOYS)