Andrew Jackson girls win by 63 points, return to SCHSL 2A final; Vols’ boys fall short
There wasn’t to be any drama Tuesday. Andrew Jackson’s girls saw to that.
The defending 2A state basketball champions built an 11-0 lead in the game’s opening two minutes and cruised to a 96-33 drubbing of Lake City in the Lower State girls’ regional championship at the Florence Center.
The Volunteers will try to win a second straight state crown at noon Saturday in Florence, against Eau Claire, which beat Clinton 41-30 Tuesday for the Upper State crown.
It wasn’t as good an outcome for the Andrew Jackson boys’ team, which fell 45-40 Tuesday in the 2A Lower State boys’ regional final. It marked the fourth straight year that the Volunteer boys lost in the state semifinals.
Watkins, Asbelle pace girls’ team
The girls’ game was was vintage Andrew Jackson basketball.
The Volunteers (26-3) built their early lead with a relentless pressing defense and a fast-break offense.
The Vols forced Lake City (17-8) into five turnovers in the opening 90 seconds and converted those into four baskets. Lake City cut the deficit to 11-3 on a Trayana Burgess 3-pointer, but Andrew Jackson picked up where it left off. The Volunteers forced three more Lake City turnovers and converted that into an 8-0 run.
By the time the first-quarter buzzer sounded, Andrew Jackson led 20-8.
The remaining three quarters were more of the same.
Lake City actually outrebounded the Volunteers 32-26, but the Panthers had no answer for senior Tamia Watkins and junior Ni’Yonna Asbelle.
Watkins scored 33 points and added 12 rebounds and eight assists. Asbelle, meanwhile, scored 24 points, nine of those in the first quarter. It was the 11th straight game in which Watkins scored 30 or more points.
“It just gets better and better, each time this team steps on the court,” Andrew Jackson coach Steven Fair said. “This group continues to work very hard toward their goal.”
Vols’ boys drop a close one
Andrew Jackson’s boys (20-6) probably will ponder the what-if’s in the loss to Atlantic Collegiate (23-3).
Foremost of those was foul shooting. The Volunteers made only 10 of their 21 free throws and were 2-of-5 in the fourth quarter.
Despite that, they had a chance down the stretch against a taller opponent that made it tough for the Volunteers to get open shots.
Trailing 41-34 with 3:12 left in the game, Andrew Jackson scored four straight points and got within 41-38 with 2:22 remaining. Over the next two minutes, the Volunteers missed all three of their field-goal attempts and turned the ball over twice. By the time they scored again, there was just one second remaining.
Junior Zeke Clyburn led Andrew Jackson with 14 points. Senior standout Bryce Peterson was troubled with fouls and scored only five points. Jaylen Bellamy, one of three Bellamy brothers that played Tuesday for the Armada, finished with 19 points.
Box scores
(Girls) ANDREW JACKSON 96, LAKE CITY 33
ANDREW JACKSON: Trinity Delly 15; Ni’Yonna Asbelle 24; McCall 9; Shropshire 2; Tamia Watkins 33; Fair 4; Wade 0; Blair 2; Knox 3; Jordan 2; Jones 2; Payne 0.
LAKE CITY: Hannah Riles 14; Burgess 3; Jones 2; Robinson 0; Starks 8; Graham 4; Shaw 2; Singletary 0.
Andrew Jackson 20 22 31 23 — 96
Lake City 8 7 6 12 — 33
(Boys) ATLANTIC COLLEGIATE 45, ANDREW JACKSON 40
ANDREW JACKSON: Zeke Clyburn 14; Seegars 7; Johnson 5; Hall 6; Bracey 2; Peterson 5.
ATLANTIC COLLEGIATE: Jamie Brooks 10; Jaylen Bellamy 19; Hemingway 4; Medarie 3; Lee 2; Justin Bellamy 2; Jayden Bellamy 0; Daniels 5; Wilson 0.
This story was originally published March 4, 2025 at 6:38 PM.