4A State Championship: Lancaster vs. Irmo

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One hive of Yellow Jackets (North Augusta) from the CSRA took to the court against flock of Redhawks in the girls' 4A state championship – and won. Another hive of Yellow Jackets from the Midlands was looking to do the same against a herd of Bruins in the boys' 4A final.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams have made deeper playoff runs this season than in the 2021-22 version of the February frenzy. Lancaster was eliminated in the second round of last season's playoffs by Travelers Rest. Irmo was an Upper State finalist from last season but were denied a trip to USC-Aiken thanks to a region rival in A.C. Flora.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thursday's play showed it was a great evening to be a Yellow Jacket. Following North Augusta's girls defeating Westwood, It was Irmo that made the deepest postseason run a high school team can make – clinching this year's 4A state championship by virtue of a 58-45 victory to dispatch of the Bruins.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“You have to have good players obviously, but you have to be lucky,” Irmo coach Tim Whipple says. “Last year, we just weren't lucky enough to get here. This year, a lot of resolve, good players and a lot of luck and we were able to have an opportunity – that's the first step – and then to actually be able to win it. That's pretty special.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Yellow Jackets' championship is the sixth in school history and its first since 2013.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Quarter By Quarter</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Irmo was the team that jumped out to a fast start in this contest as they assumed an 8-2 lead midway through the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets continued to efficiently execute their offense as they had a lead of 17-6 with one complete.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I think what really made the difference is we got the ball out and got the ball in transition and made a few easy looks and got a few 3-pointers in there and that was absolutely huge,” Irmo coach Tim Whipple says. “I would've liked us to execute better halfcourt-wise, but that was hard. (Lancaster does) such a great job defensively.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The large Irmo contingency that made the trip west on Interstate 20 continued to have plenty to cheer for as the Yellow Jackets' lead continued to balloon. With over five minutes to go, Irmo was leading in what was shaping up to be a rout – 25-7 midway through the second and 32-9 at the half.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Frame No. 3 was a bit more of an evenly matched affair moreso than the previous two were, but the Bruins needed one similar to what Irmo put together in the opening 16 minutes. Eight minutes was all that stood between Irmo and a state championship as it was 45-22 after three.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lancaster showed signs of life early in the fourth quarter as the 3-pointer was on point in its opening moments. The Bruins scored the first six points, but the more time elapsed the more it was to Irmo's benefit. The roughly decade-long wait for Irmo boys basketball fans came to an end during a lukewarm March evening in Aiken.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Primetime Performers</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1828574,"width":384,"height":251,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7659-crop-3609x2370-1677831103.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7659-crop-3609x2370-1677831103.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1828574" width="384" height="251" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With 16 points, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1239543' first='Madden' last='Collins']</strong> led the scoring efforts for the Yellow Jackets. Collins also shot six out of 15 from the field. He played nearly all 32 minutes of the game. Collins logged 31 out of the contest's 32 minutes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1828576,"width":384,"height":251,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7739-crop-2141x1406-1677831236.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7739-crop-2141x1406-1677831236.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1828576" width="384" height="251" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Irmo was also the recipient of a 15-point and seven-rebound outing courtesy of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1824934' first='Aaron' last='Brand Jr'].</strong> Nine of Brand's 15 were scored in the first half. Brand also finished the game going five out of eight from the field. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1828578,"width":384,"height":251,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7897-crop-2141x1406-1677831343.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7897-crop-2141x1406-1677831343.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1828578" width="384" height="251" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1225774' first='Brandon' last='Crawford']</strong> is a 6-foot-9 senior who has played his final game wearing the Yellow Jackets colors. He concluded his evening having gone five out of seven from the field along with a double-double of 14 rebounds and 12 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“If you think Irmo basketball, you think of a program,” Whipple says. “And if you think of a program, then you think of somebody that develops talent from middle school on up and we've been fortunate enough to do that and to keep guys wanting to play, wanting to work and wanting to get better. And that's a blessing.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1828580,"width":384,"height":251,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7866-crop-2419x1589-1677831453.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7866-crop-2419x1589-1677831453.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1828580" width="384" height="251" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On what was overall a rough scoring game for Lancaster, its star sophomore in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1145334' first='Jordan' last='Watford']</strong> came up big. Watford led all scorers with 25 points, went 10 out of 17 from the field and also grabbed nine rebounds leaving him one shy of a double-double. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1828582,"width":383,"height":250,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7949-crop-2141x1406-1677831549.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_7949-crop-2141x1406-1677831549.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1828582" width="383" height="250" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bruins also got nine points out of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142617' first='Ladarius' last='Cloud']</strong> – a junior guard who stands at 5-foot-9. All nine of his points came in the second half of play. All of his scoring came via the 3-point shot and he also collected three steals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Closing the Book</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The final record for the 2022-23 Yellow Jackets will be 26-5 while that of the Bruins finishes at 27-4.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>So Long, Seniors</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036976' first='Grayson' last='Kirk']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1487231' first='Jy' last='Gladden']</strong>, <strong>Colby Small</strong> and <strong>Xavier Graham</strong> are the seniors departing from Lancaster. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1824944' first='Jonathan' last='White']</strong>, <strong>Erick Tucker</strong>, <strong>Bryson Foster</strong>, <strong>Te'Andre Summons</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1225774' first='Brandon' last='Crawford']</strong> will bid farewell to Irmo. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->