Hilton Head Prep’s season ends with a 57-52 fall to Christian Academy

Some teams have outstanding talent. Some teams make up a great team.

“I think we’ve got a great team,” said Hilton Head Prep boys’ basketball coach Jerry Faulkner.

Unfortunately for Faulkner’s troops, the outstanding talent won out in Thursday night’s SCISA Class 2A state semifinal. But not by much.

Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach, with three NCAA-level players on its roster, finally shook off the persistent Dolphins over the final quarter to end Prep’s season with a 57-52 decision at Sumter Civic Center.

Michael Green’s 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter broke a 37-37 tie, igniting an 8-2 Christian Academy burst that gave them enough breathing room. The Dolphins never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

“I could not ask for more,” Faulkner said. “It’s not what you achieve but what you overcome, and this team overcame a lot this year. I’m so proud of these guys.”

Bryce Schneider, who has signed to play collegiately at Richmond, scored six of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to pace Christian Academy. The Saints also got the expected help from their other top recruits, as Green finished with 13 points and Justin Busby scored 12.

“We knew coming in that they had some recruits,” said Prep senior Mac Orie. “I was pretty happy with the way we played some of their better guys. But they still hit their shots, still made plays.”

The Dolphins got a huge game from Javonne Watson, who tallied 21 points while navigating his way through foes as much as five inches taller. Haddith Stewart added 14 points, Orie had eight and Ian Plummer tallied seven while coming off the bench.

Prep finished its season 21-5, overcoming a season of injuries and illness to still capture a Region 4-2A championship and make its first trip to the state semifinals since Faulkner arrived five years ago.

“We actually started 10 different players this year,” Faulkner pointed out. “I usually don’t like to change that much, but this was a season of change because of the circumstances.”

Christian Academy used some long-range marksmanship to take control early and led 28-21 at halftime.

But the Dolphins kept chipping away, using a 14-7 scoring spree at the end of the third quarter to finally pull even on Watson’s driving bucket.

The Saints used the quarter break to regroup, though, finding matchup advantages to take control for good.

This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Hilton Head Prep’s season ends with a 57-52 fall to Christian Academy."