By Thomas Grant Jr.
The hopes of earning a share of the Region 4-4A boys basketball title ended Monday for Brookland-Cayce.
A win over visiting front-runner North Augusta would have earned the Bearcats a share of first place. It could have also potentially created a 3-way tiebreaker scenario with Gray Collegiate.
The Yellow Jackets rallied from a halftime deficit with a strong second half to defeat Brookland-Cayce 59-47. DaRun Dumbar scored a game-high 29 points to put North Augusta (21-1, 12-1) in position to wrap up the region Wednesday at Midland Valley.
Brookland-Cayce had a 30-27 halftime lead. Amarii King scored all of his team-high 14 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer to end the second quarter.
Following the intermission, the Yellow Jackets stormed out to open the second half. Dumbar scored six points during a 12-0 run to open the third quarter for North Augusta.
A jumper by R.J. Weeks at the 2:21 mark ended the scoreless drought for Brookland-Cayce. Isaiah Oree hit a 3-pointer just before the end of the third quarter to close the gap to 43-39.
The Yellow Jackets pushed their lead to 50-41 following a layup by Dumbar with 5:04 left. Brookland-Cayce got within five, but a 3-pointer by Jordan Rouse and 3-point play by Jamison McKenzie get North Augusta its biggest lead with 1:29 left.
Quh’mareon Webb had 11 points for the Yellow Jackets.
With Gray Collegiate’s 68-31 win over Aiken Monday, the Bearcats (17-8, 10-3) dropped to third place in the region. It needed a win Wednesday at archrival Airport (4-19, and a War Eagles’ loss to Gilbert to set up a tiebreaker game for second place.
On the girls side, the Lady Yellow Jackets clinched their region title with a 68-30 win over Brookland-Cayce. The Lady Bearcats (8-17, 0-13) will have one more opportunity to win in region play Wednesday at Airport.
Gray Collegiate finished second in the region following Monday’s 66-25 win over Aiken. Airport needed a win Monday at Gilbert and against Brookland-Cayce to clinch fourth place and a playoff berth.
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