By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
It was a long climb to the top, but the Beaufort High boys basketball team reigns over Region 8-3A.
After a sluggish start brought on by a state championship run by the football team, the Eagles are still slogging toward .500 for the season, but they wrapped up the region crown by rallying for a 62-59 overtime win at North Charleston on Thursday.
Beaufort (9-11, 6-1) opened the game on a 10-0 run before falling behind by 11 at halftime after Sully Gay was tagged with his third foul on a controversial block-charge call and the Cougars went on a 19-0 run while he was on the bench.
Gay returned in the second half and joined Samari Bonds and Michael Dennison in leading a furious comeback. It was still an eight-point game going to the fourth quarter, but the Eagles dominated the final eight minutes of regulation. Beaufort took a six-point lead with less than a minute left, but North Charleston had one run left and pulled even with a free throw with :04 left to force overtime.
Dennison found Bonds under the basket for an easy bucket to open the overtime period, and Gay hit three free throws to stretch the lead to 58-53.
The Eagles didn’t trail again — but the Cougars tied it with a 3-pointer before Dennison flashed open at the top of the key and splashed a triple with 4.1 seconds left. North Charleston’s desperate heave went off the iron, giving Beaufort its sixth straight win and a hard-earned region championship.
Bonds put up 24 points to go with four rebounds and four steals, Dennison had 16 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks, and Gay rallied for 14 points, 12 boards, and three assists despite the early foul trouble.
Beaufort’s girls (9-9, 4-3) also stayed hot with their fourth win in five games, getting 10 points from Topaz Fripp-Williams, nine each from Riley Brozek and Acionna Lowe, and eight from Quinn Wilson in a 48-28 victory that secures at least a third-place finish in the region.
The Eagles were set to wrap up the regular season Tuesday at Hanahan.
Justin Jarrett is the sports editor of The Island News and the founder of LowcoSports.com. He was the sports editor of the Island Packet and the Beaufort Gazette for 6½ years. He has a passion for sports and community journalism and a questionable sense of humor.
