‘A special year.’ Bluffton basketball’s historic season ends in semifinals
Bluffton basketball’s historic season ended one game shy of a state championship appearance.
North Augusta was too much for the Bobcats late in the second half of the 57-38 win Friday in the Class 4A Lower State championship at the Florence Center.
North Augusta moves on to the championship game for the second straight year and will face the Lancaster/South Pointe winner in the title game at 6 p.m. March 9 at Colonial Life Arena.
The loss snaps Bluffton’s 19-game winning streak and ends the year at 24-5. The Bobcats have won 47 games over the past two seasons and were making their first Lower State championship appearance.
Bluffton coach Bradley Gabriel emerged from the Bobcats’ locker room about 20 minutes after the game ended, reflecting on what an experience this run has been.
“We were right there, especially in the third, but just kind of fell apart,” Gabriel said. “I told the guys in the locker room, it wasn’t a bad year and nothing to hold your head about. We won 24 games, went 10-0 in the region and made it to this point. It has been a special year. The kids worked really hard, bought into everything I was selling. It just didn’t work out tonight.”
Gabriel had high praise for his team, especially guard Harry Skinner. The senior led Bluffton with 20 points and has been one of the centerpieces for the past two years. Skinner left the program briefly for a few months to attend Moravian Prep (NC) but returned in the fall.
Skinner did his best to keep the Bobcats close, scoring eight straight points at one point to get them within 28-24 with 4:05 left in the third.
“When Harry got us back in the game, I felt like we had a chance,” Gabriel said. “We were down nine to Wilson (third round) in the third quarter and willed ourselves back.”
Trailing 33-24 entering the fourth, Bluffton made one final run. Ethan Foster’s three-point play got Bluffton within 39-34 with 3:36 left. Foster finished with 14 points.
But the Yellow Jackets’ zone offense and ability to get out in transition helped them close on an 18-4 run and head back to the title game.
Quh’mareon Webb led North Augusta with 21 points and Tristan Anderson added 13. Toian Nabriat had 10 points. The Yellow Jackets knocked off top-ranked Gray Collegiate on the road to make it to the semifinals.
“We started working soon after last year’s championship loss and had this circled on our calendar. We wanted to get back,” North Augusta coach Tony Harrell said. “… We didn’t finish the drill last year, and we want to finish this year.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 8:51 PM.
