‘Buzzsaw’ stops Hilton Head Christian’s SCISA playoff stay

Squaring off against one of the nation’s top prospects, Hilton Head Christian figured the best chance it would have to upend Spartanburg Day School would be to slow the pace and try to keep things it close until the end.

Easier said than done. Far easier.

Spartanburg Day put the Eagles in a quick 9-0 hole and never felt threatened, cruising to an 83-43 victory that ended HHCA’s run through the SCISA Class 2-A playoffs.

“We feel like we had a pretty competitive team this year, but we just ran into a buzzsaw,” Eagles coach Mac Tamminen said. “These guys were just on another level.”

Zion Williamson, ranked by ESPN as the 13th-best recruit in the Class of 2018, broke free for 31 points on the evening. Clemson is one of several schools to already extend an offer to the 6-4 sophomore.

Magic Moody, a 6-foot freshman, added 22 points for the Griffins (23-2).

“With those caliber of players, we’re not built to come back against them,” Tamminen said. “We wanted to slow it down and keep it low scoring, but we just weren’t able to do it.”

Jamareon Clark was the only HHCA player in double figures, tallying 10 points and three assists. Matt Lehman added eight points and four rebounds as the Eagles finished their season 13-14.

“Our guys knew what they were getting into,” Tamminen said. “I told our guys at the end of the game, if (the Griffins) don’t win it, they’re going to be runner-up. They’re one of the two best teams in SCISA.”

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 9:33 PM with the headline "‘Buzzsaw’ stops Hilton Head Christian’s SCISA playoff stay."