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<p><strong>GIRLS BASKETBALL</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Barnwell hits 1K in 1-1 week for Whale Branch</strong></p>
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<p>Whale Branch girls basketball ran its winning streak to three games with a 55-13 home rout of Lowcountry Leadership on Friday in Seabrook.</p>
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<p>Kynew Barnwell made four 3-pointers en route to a game-high 23 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, to cross the 1,000-point milestone for her career and lead the Warriors to a whopping region win. Erin Rivers added 12 points, and Arianna Polite had nine for Whale Branch.</p>
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<p>The Warriors blanked the NaviGators in the first half and led 25-3 at halftime before coasting to the finish.</p>
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<p>Whale Branch couldn’t climb out of an early hole on the road Saturday, dropping a non-region game at Wade Hampton 46-42.</p>
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<p>Barnwell put up 16 points, but it wasn’t quite enough for Whale Branch to erase a 10-point halftime deficit.</p>
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<p>Following Barnwell’s lead, Wade Hampton standout Shia Kinard reached the 1,000-point milestone with a 16-point night against the Warriors. Kinard scored all 16 points in the first half, while Kaira Garvin added 13 for the Red Devils.</p>
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<p>Erin Rivers added eight points, Kiana Smashum had seven, and Heaven Grant contributed five for the Warriors.</p>
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<p><strong>Dolphins dominant in region opener</strong></p>
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<p>Battery Creek girls basketball opened Region 8-3A play with a resounding road win Friday, hammering Academic Magnet 51-21 in North Charleston.</p>
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<p>The Dolphins played lockdown defense all night, limiting the Raptors to three points in the first quarter and leading 19-12 at halftime. Creek pushed the margin to 13 at the end of the third and outscored the Raptors 20-3 in the final period.</p>
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<p>Ashante Shaw and Kiara Wilson each scored 14 points to lead the Dolphins, and Shaw ripped down 20 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.</p>
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<p><strong>Red-hot HHCA spoils BA’s region debut</strong></p>
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<p>They were off for three weeks, but Hilton Head Christian Academy’s girls haven’t missed a beat. The Eagles backed up their Georgia gauntlet success with a dominant region victory at home Friday, downing Beaufort Academy 86-54.</p>
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<p>HHCA started rolling in a flash, opening up a 13-0 run to start the game through terrific defensive intensity and five quick points from electric guard Devon Yarde. Then Abby Peduzzi showed off her skill in the paint, powering her way to the rim before adding another quick bucket to cap a nine-point quarter with HHCA holding a commanding 32-6 lead.</p>
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<p>BA needed a spark in the second and found it with Mike’Ala Washington, who racked up 12 points in the period including a pair of threes. But Peduzzi, Yarde, and Jaida Grayson picked it up in the final minutes before Skylar Smith banked in a deep three at the buzzer to put the exclamation point on a 52-24 first-half explosion.</p>
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<p>The three-time defending SCISA 2A champs kept it rolling after the break, earning trips to the free throw line and playing tough defense to raise the advantage to 72-38. Yarde put the finishing touches on a terrific night in the fourth, adding 11 more points including a gorgeous 3-pointer to cap off the region win.</p>
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<p>Yarde was sensational both passing and scoring the basketball, leading the Eagles with 24 points, Peduzzi was uncontainable near the hoop with 20 points on the night, Tamya Hutchinson scored 12 points, and Grayson added 11.</p>
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<p>Washington put on a brilliant performance for Beaufort Academy in the defeat, posting a game-high 33 points, and Tahleea Heyward added 12.</p>
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<p><strong>BOYS BASKETBALL</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Warriors stay perfect in region, fall to Red Devils</strong></p>
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<p>Jashaun Gillison hit the game-winner with 2.3 seconds left to lift Whale Branch boys basketball to a 53-52 win at St. John’s on Tuesday to remain perfect in Region 7-1A play.</p>
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<p>The Warriors got off to a slow start and trailed by eight after the first quarter, but Gillison heated up and scored 10 first-half points to help Whale Branch close the gap to 25-24 at halftime. Whale Branch edged ahead by one after three periods but was down one in the waning seconds before Gillison’s heroics.</p>
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<p>AJ Singleton scored 19 points to lead the Warriors, while Gillison added 12. Queshawn Fields and Keith Chisolm each added eight points, with Chisolm doing all of his scoring in the fourth quarter.</p>
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<p>Whale Branch couldn’t keep pace with a strong Wade Hampton squad on the road Saturday, falling 51-36 to the No. 2 team in Class 2A.</p>
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<p>Football star Jamian Risher led the way for Wade Hampton with 10 points, six rebounds, and five steals to head a list of six Red Devils who scored five points or more. Robert Clark added eight points and four steals, and Zymir Grant and Temaj Butler each had seven points.</p>
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<p>Gillison put up 15 points to lead the Warriors, while Xavier Chaplin added six.</p>
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