Boys fall in 2nd round
LowcoSports.com
Even with their leading scorer home sick, Beaufort Academy’s girls basketball team barreled into the SCISA 2A semifinals with a 54-27 win over Clarendon Hall in their state tournament opener Monday at Wilson Hall in Sumter.
With senior star and Coker commit Tahleea Heyward out, Kamirah Freeman stepped up to score 20 points, Mike’Ala Washington poured in 17, and Olivia Dinkins added 10 to lead the Eagles to an easy win in the second round after earning a top seed and first-round bye.
BA (15-10) expects to have Heyward back for its semifinal matchup against Patrick Henry at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Wilson Hall. It will be the fourth meeting between the teams this season with the Eagles winning each of the first three. After eking out a 33-31 win over the Patriots in the semifinals of the War Hawk Holiday Tournament at Colleton Prep in December, BA blasted PHA 71-34 at home in January and won 62-46 on the road Feb. 7.
This time, the winner goes to the state championship for a matchup with either Cathedral Academy or Dorchester Academy.
Things didn’t go as planned for BA’s boys, who stumbled in their first game in the tournament, falling 68-53 to St. John’s Christian Academy on Tuesday at Wilson Hall. The Eagles (19-9) were plagued by foul trouble throughout and saw all five starters foul out in an abrupt end to the season. Zeke Gonzalez scored 14 points and Te’Shaun Heyward added 10 for BA.
