Hilton Head’s magical season falls just short of state championship glory
Hilton Head Island High School was less than two minutes from its first state title. Then Quan Peterson took over.
The South Pointe High junior scored his team’s last seven points in the final 1:18 of the game Saturday to lead the Stallions to a 52-50 win over the Seahawks in the Class 4A boys championship. The game was played at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.
“I just saw a kid that was determined to win the game with his teammates,” South Pointe coach Melvin Watson said of Peterson. “He just made all the right plays. He just played great. I can’t say enough about that kid.”
The championship is the first for South Pointe in basketball and the first for Watson, a former University of South Carolina standout. He lost two as a player in high school at Burke.
The loss ended Hilton Head’s dream season in their first trip to the state championship game. One by one, Seahawk players emerged from the locker room Saturday trying to process what happened over the game’s final minutes.
Second-year coach Chane Brown reflected on the positives of the year and how far the program has come in just a short time. Prior to this season, the Seahawks had won just two region titles in school history. One of those region titles came when Brown was a player in 2002.
He was hired as the school’s head coach two years ago and has put together back-to-back winning seasons.
“I told them as much as it hurts, we had a heck of a season,” said Brown, who began his coaching career at Hopkins Middle School in Columbia. “Nobody thought we would be here but we made it. We surpassed everyone’s expectations of what we could do. There is no doubt that this is the best team Hilton Head has ever had.”
The Seahawks were in control for most of the game and were up 30-19 at halftime behind a big first half from Sam Summa, a UCLA football commitment. The 6-foot-6 senior had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. The Seahawks out-rebounded the Stallions 47-26, including 23-11 in the first half.
But the Stallions, who also were making their first championship appearance, kept within striking distance behind their defensive pressure and were down 46-41 with 2:56 left. South Pointe forced 16 of Hilton Head’s 27 turnovers in the second half. The Stallions scored 22 points off those turnovers.
“We didn’t take care of the ball,” Brown said. “They are extremely physical and the refs were letting them be physical. We just didn’t take the physicality well.”
South Carolina football signee O’Mega Blake got the Stallions within 49-45 on a driving coast-to-coast layup. Blake injured his back on the play and missed the rest of the game.
That’s when Peterson took over. He scored five in a row to put the Stallions up 50-49 with 1:06 left. It was South Pointe’s first lead since being ahead 2-0.
Blake finished with 10 points and Jalen Hicklin had 11 for South Pointe, including three 3-pointers in the second half.
Summa tied it at 50 with 44 seconds left after hitting 1 of 2 free throws. Hilton Head was 6 of 12 from the line in the fourth quarter.
The Stallions called a timeout and held the ball for one last shot. Peterson was fouled shooting a jump shot with 4.4 seconds left. He hit both free throws.
The Seahawks called a timeout to diagram the final play. Brown said South Pointe’s defense didn’t let them get the look they wanted, and Summa ended up having to shoot just in front of half court and missed as the buzzer sounded.
Will McCracken added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Seahawks. The UNC Wilmington signee was in foul trouble in the first half.
“This was a great group of kids that gelled really well together,” Brown said. “It was a good basketball team that wanted to win.”
SP: Quan Peterson 16, Jenerette 9, Jalen Hicklin 11, Williams 3, O’Mega Blake 10, Webb 1, Archie 2. HHI: Smith 4, Sneed 5, Will McCracken 10, Sam Summa 18, Clark 4, Frazier 3, Black 6.
This story was originally published March 6, 2021 at 3:17 PM.
