Beaufort Academy boys fall to Curtis Baptist in SCISA quarterfinals

Beaufort Academy’s best season in seven years came to an end Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the SCISA Class 1-A playoffs, as it was unable to counter a pair of Curtis Baptist scoring outbursts at the end of the second and third quarters in an 84-50 defeat in Sumter.

Kevin Williams scored 19 points and Luke Harper added 18 for the Eagles (17-8), but both got caught up in a cold-shooting spell midway through the second quarter that allowed Curtis Baptist to break the game open.

The Crusaders scored the final 10 points of the half to lead 40-25 at intermission.

“From somewhere in the middle of the second quarter and lasting into the third, we just went cold,” Eagles coach Chip Dinkins said. “Then we did a good job holding them to 10 points until late in the third quarter.”

The Crusaders scored the final 13 points of that period, pushing their advantage to 63-34. “They scored 13 points in a heartbeat,” Dinkins said.

Rodney Shell tallied 28 points for Curtis Baptist, which advanced to a Thursday night semifinal.

Despite the loss, Dinkins noted that this was the first time since 2009 that Beaufort Academy made it past the first round of the playoffs.

“Now we’re one of the last eight teams in SCISA 1-A,” he said. “It was a good year for us.”

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Beaufort Academy boys fall to Curtis Baptist in SCISA quarterfinals."