By Thomas Grant Jr.
A season-ending comeback victory over Orangeburg Prep propelled Northside Christian Academy to its first-ever SCISA region title.
The two teams were back in West Columbia Tuesday for the region opener. Once again, the Crusaders came away victorious 69-61 over the Indians.
Both Cade McNeill, who had 19 points, and Hilton Dessausure, who had 16, both scored 10 points in the second half for Orangeburg Prep. Dessausure scored his 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Indians pull away.
“Teams are coming for us, so we’re going to get other teams’ best shot,” Northside Christian head coach Peter Wilkerson said. “OP played a fantastic game. They had a lot of guys who played really well. Hats off to them. They played really hard, and we had to battle through some adversity. But we got a lead, and we maintained it.”
Orangeburg Prep (9-6, 0-1) held a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Northside Christian turned the tables in the second quarter, outscoring the Indians 15-8 to take the halftime lead.
Tilden Riley carried the Orangeburg Prep offense in the third quarter. He scored 10 of his game-high 20 points to bring the Indians to within a field goal.
The Crusaders maintained their lead as they held their own rebounding and got timely baskets from McNeil, Dessausure and Sullie Crider, who finished with nine points.
Orangeburg Prep got as close as four points in the final minutes. Like last year, Northside Christian closed out the game with a scoring run.
Up next for Northside Christian is a road matchup Friday at Greenwood Christian, followed by a home game Jan. 23 against Palmetto Christian Academy.
In girls action, Northside Christian was defeated 49-28 by Orangeburg Prep. The Lady Crusaders took a 12-9 lead after the first quarter, then were outscored 21-2 in the second quarter, and trailed as many as 23 points.
Jane Walker Yonce scored 12 of her 14 points in the second quarter and Katherine Lambrecht finished with 12. Arabella Yaroszewski led the Lady Crusaders with eight points.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Lexington 95, White Knoll 53
Cam Scott had a season-high 43 points, Jaxon Prunty added 18 and Kaleb Evans finished with 17 to lead the top-ranked Wildcats.
Coulter Bell had 10 points for Lexington (16-2, 3-0), who play host to Aiken Wednesday.
Brookland-Cayce 60, Gilbert 38
A.J. Edwards had 21 points and Will Young added nine for the Bearcats.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lexington 52, White Knoll 40
Syndi Anderson had 19 points, Jordan Cuttino scored 10 points and Evie Godfrey finished with nine as the Lady Wildcats (8-7, 3-0) remained undefeated in Region 4-5A.
Gilbert 65, Brookland-Cayce 23
