Dynasty continues! Hilton Head Christian girls roll to another state championship

Hilton Head Christian Academy’s trophy case keeps growing.

The Eagles used a strong third quarter Saturday to win their fourth straight SCISA Class 2A girls championship with a 45-34 victory over Orangeburg Prep in a game played at the Sumter Civic Center.

The Eagles were one of two SCISA girls programs to win their fourth straight championship Saturday. Cardinal Newman girls won their fourth straight SCISA 3A championship by defeating First Baptist.

“It was a tough battle tonight. Orangeburg Prep had a great game plan,” Hilton Head Christian coach Kenny Conroy told reporters after the game. “The triangle and two really got us off balance early in the game. We regrouped at halftime and set some things up to get open shots and we finally made a couple.”

Hilton Head Christian trailed 19-14 at halftime after OP closed the second quarter on a 9-0 run.

But the shots started to fall for the Eagles in the third quarter. HHCA made three 3-pointers in the quarter as the team took a 34-23 lead into the fourth.

Tamya Hutchinson and Skylar Smith each had 13 points to lead HHCA. Abby Peduzzi added nine for the Eagles. Peduzzi gave Hilton Head Christian the lead at 24-21 with a 3-pointer.

The Eagles outscored Orangeburg 20-4 in the third quarter.

“There are not a lot of people who can say they won four in a row, and there aren’t that many who can say they won one,” Smith said. “So it’s amazing to have had an opportunity like this.

“... the first quarter we really weren’t playing with confidence, the first half really. When we came out after halftime and started playing our game, our confidence went up.”

HHCA also shut down Orangeburg Prep’s Campbell Delaney in the second half. Delaney finished with 16 points, with only two after halftime. Conroy changed things up in the second half by asking Devon Yarde to guard Delaney, and it paid off.

“Yarde’s our best defender. For some reason the girl (Delaney) was getting to the basket around Abby, which was surprising because Abby is really athletic,” Conroy said. “Devin face-guarded her, shut her down, minimized her chances with the ball and I think that made her work a little harder and got her more tired.”

Scording Summary — OP: Campbell Delaney 16, Fogle 2, L. Grubbs 1, R. Grubbs 7, Lambrecht 8.. HHCA: Yarde 4, Skylar Smith 13, Peduzzi 9, Tamya Hutchinson 13, Butcher 6.

This story was originally published February 27, 2022 at 12:09 AM.