Looking for first state title, Hilton Head High’s boys hitting ‘on all cylinders’
Coach Chane Brown is a regular attendee at South Carolina high school basketball championship weekend. This year, he will have a different perspective.
Instead of being up in the stands and mingling with friends in the coaching fraternity, Brown will be on the bench leading his alma mater, Hilton Head Island High School, in Saturday’s Class 4A boys state championship against South Pointe at USC Aiken’s Convocation Center.
It is the Seahawks’ first trip to the state championship game.
“I was talking to one of my friends last night. [We] go to the state championship games every year,” Brown said this week. “It is going to be a different feeling not being in the stands this year but being on the court.”
Brown has been “running on fumes” this week since the Seahawks’ 55-42 win over Hartsville in the Lower State championship on Monday. He usually is quiet and keeps to himself on bus rides home from games.
But he spent the ride back from James Island, where Monday’s game was held, returning phone calls and congratulatory messages.
“It is all kind of surreal,” Brown said. “It is really exciting to do something that has never been done before at this high school.”
Working with Dawn Staley, getting started
Brown is in his second season as head coach for the Seahawks, but his coaching career began in Columbia after he went to the University of South Carolina. He said he tried walking on to the Gamecocks’ football team but switched to being a manager for the women’s basketball team because he could earn some money.
Brown was manager for Dawn Staley’s first two years as head coach for USC’s women program. Staley, one of the most decorated basketball players in USA Basketball history, has built the Gamecocks into a national power, winning the 2017 national championship and consistently in the Top 10 on a year-in basis.
“I learned from her competitiveness, preparation for the game and attention to detail,” Brown said of Staley. “Seeing everything at a high level helped me get to where I am right now.”
After graduating from USC, Brown was head coach at Hopkins Middle School in Columbia from 2005-10. He coached future college basketball players James Reese and Ja’Cor Nelson, among others, and learned what it took to be a head coach.
Brown returned to his alma mater in 2015 and spent four years as an assistant coach, including three years as JV coach. He was promoted to head coach in the summer of 2019 after Ken Updike resigned.
The Seahawks hadn’t a winning season since 2012-13. Before this season, the program won only two regional championships, one when Brown was a player in 2002.
But HHI made progress in Brown’s first season, going 14-9 and finishing second in the region. The Seahawks lost to North Myrtle Beach in the first round of the playoffs.
The missing piece arrives
Brown had high expectations of this year’s team, with most of the roster returning from last year’s team. But that was before the return of Will McCracken to the Lowcountry.
McCracken has been a star for the Seahawks this season. He won a pair of state championships at Archbishop Moeller in Cincinnati before moving with his family back to Hilton Head Island this year. He lived in Hilton Head Island as a child before his family moved to Ohio.
The UNC Wilmington signee has been one of the focal points of the Seahawks’ run to the state championship. The 6-foot-4 guard leads the team in scoring, at 20.1 points a game, and is second in rebounding, with 9.6 rebounds.
McCracken broke the school record for most points in a game with his 43-point performance against Lucy Beckham on Jan. 29. He was named Region 7-4A Player of the Year and all-state selection.
McCracken also has produced some highlight-reel dunks during the season.
“He is just a very well-rounded player,” Brown said of McCracken. “I think he went under the radar this year with the COVID restrictions and us not being able to play as many games.
“He is a good leader on the court, and all the kids respect him. They value his leadership on the floor.”
McCracken said it was a bit of adjustment early on with his teammates, but things are clicking. The Seahawks have won 14 straight games, including the regular season and tournament title, going into Saturday’s title game.
“The chemistry came later in the season,” McCracken said at Wednesday’s championship press conference. “It was more playing together and getting used to each other. It has been working great right now.
“We have never been this far, so if we could bring back this state title, everyone would be pretty happy.”
The Seahawks have a strong supporting cast around McCracken, including a pair of football standouts in UCLA commit Sam Summa and four-star prospect Jaylen Sneed. Summa is averaging 11.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
Adam Clark and Alex Smith also have played big roles this year for the Seahawks, and hope to have one more big moment left in them Saturday.
“It’s been a really fun ride, just to see the excitement on their faces and get to see them get better in practice each day and in the games,” Brown said. “We started off slow, but we are going on all cylinders. It’s been fun and good to see Seahawk basketball reach these heights.”
SC Basketball Championship Schedule, scores
Wednesday, March 3
Class 2A Girls
Saluda 61, Silver Bluff 41
Class A Boys
Southside Christian 66, Scott’s Branch 45
Thursday, March 4
Class 4A Girls
Westside 44, North Myrtle Beach 30
Class 3A Boys
Marlboro County vs. Seneca
Friday, March 5
Class 5A Girls
Sumter vs. Clover, noon
Class 3A Girls
Keenan vs. Bishop England, 4 p.m.
Class 2A Boys
Christ Church vs. Wade Hampton, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 6
Class 4A Boys
Hilton Head Island vs. South Pointe, noon
Class A Girls
Southside Christian Military Magnet, 4 p.m.
Class 5A Boys
Dorman vs. River Bluff, 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 11:19 AM.
