York Prep boys run past Wade Hampton to earn berth in Class 2A championship game
It’s never a good sign for York Prep’s opponents when twin senior guards Kendall and Kory Davis smile during a game.
But the two seniors did plenty of that on Monday afternoon.
York Prep, the undefeated basketball team from Rock Hill that plays about as fun and as fast as anyone in South Carolina does, defeated Wade Hampton 61-41 in the Civic Center in Florence on Monday afternoon.
The win sends the Patriots to their first state championship game since the school joined the South Carolina High School League as a provisional member in 2018. YPA will face Gray Collegiate — the team that ousted the Patriots in 2021 — for the title on Saturday at 2 p.m. at USC Aiken.
“I’ll tell you what: It was a lot of fun,” York Prep head coach Larry Davis told reporters postgame. “Those guys in that locker room left it all out on the floor today from the beginning. ... They took probably a record nine charges today. So it was a lot of fun to be a part of. I’m proud of those guys in the locker room. We live to go on to the next one.”
Davis took over the YPA helm in April 2018. In his first season at the Rock Hill public charter, his team went 6-14.
Some of those same players on that 6-14 team are now one win away from YPA history.
“I was there when the program was at the bottom,” Davis said. “I got a couple guys in that locker room who stuck it out, stayed with us, and this is the fruits of their labor. And I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
York Prep closed the first half on a 14-4 run, forcing a few turnovers thanks to its 2-2-1 press in that stretch, and headed into halftime with a 33-13 margin.
YPA didn’t take its foot off the proverbial pedal in the second half. After Wade Hampton scored the first four points of the second half — and after Davis took a timeout to refocus his team — the Patriots kept running and kept stealing Wade Hampton inbound passes and kept taking charges and kept extending their lead.
The Patriots ended up with eight players in the scoring column: Brenton Elliott led all scorers with 14 points. Ji’Meion Brown (12), Kory Davis (9), LaDarian McCree (8), Kendall Davis (7), Justin Pauling (4), Jevon Long (4) and DJ Barksdale (3) also contributed.
The Patriots briefly celebrated after the win in front of their classmates, who showed up in droves on Monday.
McCree, York Prep’s poised yet explosive point guard, said after the game that the team’s job isn’t finished. When informed that his team was playing 2A Upper State champion Gray Collegiate on Saturday, he smiled.
The Patriots have been waiting for this matchup since last year’s loss.
“That just adds fuel to our fire,” McCree said. “Last year, we went out on a sad way (against Gray). It hurt us, hurt everybody on the team. So we just want to come out, play our hardest and try to come out with a victory this time.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 3:14 PM.
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