Hilton Head Christian girls bring hard-earned state championship home

The Hilton Head Christian girls basketball team had the SCISA 2A state championship all wrapped up Saturday — until it didn’t.

It took a gut check on behalf of the Eagles and the tough inside play of Jasmine Campbell, Dior Shelton and others to earn a 53-51 victory over Spartanburg Christian at the Sumter County Civic Center.

The Eagles held a 34-19 lead on the Warriors at the half and took a 39-21 advantage early in the third. Then point guard Brielle McCarthy was charged her fourth foul, taking a seat on the bench at the 5:36 mark of the third. Then the Warriors started to hit a stride.

Spartanburg Christian went on a 15-2 scoring run that electrified the crowd — especially when Kenzie Spivey nailed a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer and got the Warriors within 41-36.

Spartanburg Christian kept pounding early in the fourth, while the Eagles slowly toughened their resolve, if they couldn’t score much. The Warriors started the fourth quarter on an 11-4 run that got them up 47-45 on Kayla Camacho’s clutch jumper just inside the 3-point line.

But in a snap, Abby Peduzzi took to the foul line and hit one of two shots, and Campbell worked her way in for a layup to give the Eagles a 48-47 lead with 1:58 left.

By then, both teams squared up to make a final shot. Camacho hit another jumper to give Spartanburg Christian a 51-49 lead with 50 seconds to go — then Skylar Smith responded and sank a 3-pointer to put the Eagles up for good.

Hilton Head’s Shelton hit the front end of a one-and-one with 19 seconds on the clock.

Spartanburg Christian then worked quickly down the court and shot a 3-pointer that careened off the rim. Two attempts at grabbing a rebound failed.

The buzzer sounded with Hilton Head Christian players crashing into each other at midcourt to celebrate perhaps the hardest-fought game of their season.

This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 5:09 PM.