WINNSBORO – Fresh off a one-sided regular season with only one loss in the books, top-seeded Richard Winn faced Holly Hill (13-14) in the opening round of the South Carolina Independent Schools Association’s 1A state basketball tournament on Saturday.
When the two teams met in early December, the Eagles took a 55-34 win over the Raiders. Saturday’s game would produce different results, eliminating Richard Winn from the playoffs with a two-point loss.
Both offenses got off to a slow start, but the Eagles held a 9-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Holly Hill closed the gap to 24-23 by halftime.
The battle continued in the third quarter, but Holly Hill tied the game at 36 before the period ended. The Raiders led 44-42 as time expired in the fourth.
The Eagle offense was held almost scoreless in the final quarter. Charlie Bonds scored the Eagles’ only six points in the fourth, but the Eagles held Holly Hill to just one score from the field. They tallied six of their nine points in the fourth from the free throw line.
Bonds led Eagle scorers with 19 points. Drew Spires had eight.
The loss ended the Eagles’ hopes of returning to the state title game. They finish with a 23-2 record on the season, a region title and a region tournament title.
The Eagle girls, one of just eight teams who earned a playoff bid in the SCISA 1A bracket, met a similar fate on Friday night as they took on Curtis Baptist in the first round.
The Eagles kept it close through the first half, trailing 9-7 after a quarter and only 15-12 at the end of the second. Curtis Baptist gained momentum after halftime, outscoring the Eagles 18-9 in the third. They held on for a 41-25 win over Richard Winn.
Meagan Brigman led the Eagles with 10 points. Brigman and fellow senior Delaney Young were named to the All Region team. Brigman was also named to the region All-Tournament team last weekend.
The Eagle girls wrap the season with a 10-8 overall record.
BOYS
RW – 9-15-12-6 – 42
HH – 6-17-13-9 – 44
RW: C Bonds 19. D Spires 8. B Nicholson 5. M Stuck 5. J Tyndall 3. E Steward 2
GIRLS
RW – 7-5-9-4 – 25
CB – 9-6-18-8 – 41
RW: M Brigman 10. A Lewis 8. D Young 4. B Baker 3.