Photos from March 6th, the SCHSL Class A Girls Championship Game between Walhalla and Dillon . Enjoy this sample of images, follow this link for the full gallery.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Florence —The Dillon High and Walhalla High girls’ basketball teams were ranked 1-2 in the HSSR AAA rankings a month ago, so it was no surprise that the two teams met in the SCHSL championship game at the Florence Center on March, 6. After the game, Walhalla head coach Byron Wimphrie commented, “Our goal at the start of the season was to compete for a state title, and every day was an opportunity to get better and prepare for a game, and a moment like this,” said Coach Wimphrie. “After we were tied at the half, I told the girls to go out and win the first four minutes of the third quarter. “ I think they did a good job of doing that and staying together and not getting emotionally upset,” said Coach Wimphrie. “This game had a lot of contact and it was a very physical game. “I knew we were the taller team so we wanted to get the ball down into the post as much as possible,” said Coach Wimphrie. “We tried to slow the pace of the game down also because Dillon was very quick with a guard focused team.” Coach Wimphire paid a tribute to his key players. “ Annie Campbell , Kami Roach , Gianna Ortiz , Miley White , and Mara Chappell have been playing together for a very long time, including AAU in the summer, so this is a great moment for them,” said Coach Wimphrie. “They have been preparing for games like this one today for a long time.” Roach, a very talented junior who is under HSSR consideration for AAA Player of the Year shared her feelings after the game. “We wanted this state championship so bad,” she said. “It was a day one goal of ours when the season began. “We started the game slowing things down, and I felt like we were forcing passes early in the game,” said Roach. “We settled down in the second half, focused better, and I feel like that is what helped us come out on top in the game.” Dillon head coach James McMillian completed his 9 th season in the state finals against Walhalla. “In our win over Oceanside the other day we had fewer fans from Dillon in the stands and the girls seemed to not be as emotional or nervous as they were in this game,” said Coach McMillian. “Today we had many more fans in the stands like proud relatives of our players and this seemed to make them play more nervus for some reason. The moment was a little big for them. “We needed some key baskets and some key rebounds to finish the deal today but we missed a lot of shots that we normally make,” said Coach McMillian. “We knew coming into the game that Walhalla was the much taller team. At half-time we decided to put Alyssa Lee (5-10) in the line-up to start the third quarter to give us more height in the paint. “Then when they got a big lead, we went with five guards to pick up the tempo but turnovers and there three-point shooting hurt our chances to get back in the game,” said Coach McMillian. “We are a very young team and I am very proud of this group winning the first Lower State championship ever for Dillon girls’ basketball, and to compete for a state championship is also very special.” Next season the team will continue to grow around talented freshman Treasure Davis who scored 18 points in the game. “Treasure is just a freshman with a very bright future and we will continue to grow the team around her next season along with our talented sophomore Khw’Nylahi McKinnon . These two players give us a solid foundation for next season.” Coach McMillian also cited the contributions of graduating seniors Za’Daiya Moody , Ayonna Lester , and Mariah Campbell as they move on. After the two teams battled to a 18-18 deadlock at the half, Wahalla used their height advantage for numerous second chance shots in the paint, and they connected on seven three pointers to pull away for a 52-37 win, earning their school their first ever girls’ basketball state title. A huge crowd of Walhalla supporters made the 182-mile trip from the upstate to the Florence center and they were loud and proud throughout the contest. In the third period Walhalla outscored the Lady Wildcats 15-9 to enter the final quarter with a 33-27 lead. After Dillon’s Khw’Nylahi McKinnon began the third period with a three-point shot to put Dillon ahead 21-18, the Razorbacks went on a 7-0 run to take a 25-21 lead with 4:40 left in the quarter. During the run Walhalla scored two inside baskets from Gianna Ortiz and Annie Campbell before junior Kami Roach nailed a dead-eye “nothing but net” three- point shot from well beyond the top of the key arc. Walhalla’s next basket was a three-pointer made by Campbell that gave her team a four-point lead at the time. When Miley White scored either team’s final basket in the third period, on a lay-up, it gave Walhalla a 33-27 entering final quarter and either team still looked strong enough to win the game. Dillon’s Treasure Davis scored on an inside move to cut the deficit to 33-29 on the first basket made by either team to start the quarter. However, Walhalla went on an 11-2 run after the Davis basket to lead 44-31 with 4:20 left in the game. Campbell started the run with a three pointer from the corner. Thirty seconds later (6:31) she “banked in” a second three-pointer from the deep corner, and the way the ball banked in off the glass from the deep corner might have made fans at the game feel like basketball god was smiling on Walhalla for some reason. After the 11-2 run, Dillon scored on back-to-back baskets by Azyriah Ford and Davis to trim the lead to 46-35 with 3:11 to go. From that point Walhalla finished the game out-scoring Dillon 6-2, for a final victory of 52-27. The top scorers for Walhalla were Miley White with 14 points, including 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Annie Campbell was next on the score index with 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Kami Roach finished with 10 points, 9 rebounds, four assists, one block, and a team high seven steals. Gianna Ortiz contributed 9 points for Walhalla including 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots, and one steal. Mara Chappell contributed four points and five rebounds and Ashlyn Frick closed out the scoring for the Razorbacks with two points. Dillon was led by talented freshman Treasure Davis with 18 points, 8 rebounds, three assists, six steals, and two blocked shots. McKinnon was next on the points index with 9, including five steals, four rebounds, and one assist. Ayonna Lester contributed seven points, five rebounds, and four steals to the Wildcat efforts. The remaining two scorers for Dillon were Ford and Alyssa Lee who contributed two and one points respectively.

Day 1 - of the SCHSL Championships Games: 4 games with 8 teams going for the gold! Thursday, March 6 2:00pm - Lee Central vs. Military Magnet - Girls Class A State Championship 4:00pm - Abbeville vs. Denmark Olar - Boys Class A State Championship  6:00pm - Dillon vs. Walhalla - Girls Class AAA State Championship 8:00pm - Powdersville vs. Keenan - Boyss Class AAA State Championship Tickets are available at the gate at The Florence Center for $15. . Gates open 1 hour before the first game. If you want to watch at home, the SCHSL announced coverage from stations in these markets on March 6th, 7th, and 8th : Asheville, NC / Greenville, SC WMYA (My40 Asheville-Greenville ) Columbia, SC WACH.2 – (TBD Network) – the network is called TBD Charleston, SC WCIV (MyTV Charleston) Myrtle Beach, SC Thursday – Friday: EPDE(CW21 Myrtle Beach) Saturday: HPDE (WPDE-4)

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Florence —In high stakes athletic events, games have defining moments, and when Oceanside Collegiate’s Ella Mae Schepp fouled out mid-way through the fourth quarter, in the Landsharks AAA Lower state championship game against Dillon, at the Florence Civic Center, her team lost the services of their best press breaking guard and the Wildcats rallied for a 59-57 win. Dillon (23-2) will now challenge Walhalla (26-3) in the AAA state finals scheduled at the Florence Civic Center for 6 p.m. on Thursday March, 6 and 6 p.m. Walhalla defeated St . Joseph’s 47-41 to advance. After the come-from-behind win, long-time Dillon head coach James McMillian told the HSSR, “This has been a long time coming,” said Coach McMillian. “This is my 22 nd year in coaching so we are looking forward to playing one more game. “I tell my players not to get too high or too low, and to learn how to play through adversity,” said Coach McMillian. “I am so happy right now, I do not know what to do. “Everybody on the floor stepped up today and I am so proud of our senior leader Mariah Campbell because she has given her heart and soul to Dillon High basketball,” said Coach McMillian. “ Treasure Davis has already scored 1,000 points and she is just a freshman and McKinnon, who is just a sophomore, scored 24 points today. It was just a great team effort and a great team win.” Oceanside Collegiate head coach Mandy Harrison shared some thoughts after the game. “She (Schepp) is a player we do not want to leave the court so it was unfortunate she fouled out,” said Coach Harrison. “We knew their press was coming and we had prepared for it all week. “My message to the team after the game, and they were down and sad, but I told them not to hang their heads because they had a lot to be proud of,” said Coach Harrison. “I reminded them that they had played a heck of a ball game and that they had made some big shots throughout the game.” The Dillon girls are patently famous for their second half full-court, in-your-face, pressing defense, taking advantage of their quickness and tenacity to convert steals into lay-ups. The Wildcats were down 37-27 at the half when they released their wrath of defensive pressure on Oceanside to start the third quarter. By the start of the fourth quarter Dillon had cut the deficit in half to 47-42 when Schepp got her 4 th foul with 6.3 seconds left in the third period. Dillon had built a 14-11 first quarter lead, but in the second period Oceanside erupted for 26 points as senior Teagan Scott scored 10 points, junior Ella Hunter scored 8 points, while Schepp added four points in the second quarter, to give OC a 10-point lead at the half. During the third period, Dillon began the quarter with a basket from the corner by sophomore point guard Khwnylahi McKinnon who would go on to finish with a team high 24 points. At the 6”15-mark McKinnon nailed a three-point shot from the corner and with 3:50 left in the period she hit another three-point shot that cut the deficit to 43-36. Seconds later a steal and lay-up by talented freshman Treasure Davis narrowed the score to 43-38 and OC called time out to regroup. As the third quarter ended Dillon senior forward Zadaiya Moody scored on an inside basket to make the deficit 47-42 going into the final period. Dillon out-scored OC 17-10 in the final and Schepp fouled out with just under four minutes left in the game. Dillon took a 56-55 lead with 1:25 left in the game on a steal and lay-up from McKinnon. OC came right back and regained the lead (57-56) with 47 seconds left on a basket by junior forward Chole Millard . Then with 26 seconds left senior guard Maraih Campbell hit the game winner on a three-point shot that gave the Wildcats a 59-57 win. OC called time out with 1.7 seconds on the clock but was unable to convert as time expired after a challenged inbounds pass.  For the game McKinnon led Dillon’s scoring index with 24 points followed by Davis with 17 points. Campbell contributed seven points with Ayonna Lester getting five points rounded off by two points each from Azyiah Ford and Moody. Oceanside was led by Scott, a senior power forward, along with Schepp with 14 points. Ella Hunter had 9 points, while Millard added 8 points along with junior Henley Hanks who scored six points.

Top Ranked Dillon Girl’s Focused On AAA State Basketball Championship By Billy G. Baker Publisher— Dillon —It wasn’t until the first of January that the top AAA ranked Dillon High Lady Wildcats (17-3, 8-0) were able to play with a full roster, and they are currently on a 9-game win streak with two games left in the regular season. “One of our losses was by one-point to Scott’s Branch early in the season when we had three starters out with various injuries,” said veteran head coach James McMillian . ”Freshman Treasure Davis is our best player and she missed four or five games with vertigo issues in December. We have also been without point guard Khwnylahi McKinnon and guard Mariah Campbell due to nagging injuries earlier in the season. We are healthy once again and we are playing our best basketball right now.” In Dillon’s most recent win over Waccamaw on the road (50-41) Davis did not play due to a severe case of the flu. McKinnon stepped up and scored 18 points in the win. Junior forward Jiana McGill stepped versus Waccamaw and scored seen points and Campbell contributed 13 points. “The win over Waccamaw was indicative of how things have gone most of the season,” said Coach McMillian. “When a player goes down others step up. We have a deep roster as a result of the injuries and health issues we have dealt with this season.” Davis is leading the team scoring 18.5 points a game with 6.,8 rebounds, three steals and 2.5 assists a game. “Treasure handles the ball very well and she is very quick,” said Coach McMillian. “We used her in many roles depending on the opponent.” McKinnon has improved her points average to 15 points a game including 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.5 assists a game. Campbell is averaging 10.1 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. Senior guard Ayonna Lester is averaging 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds a game. Dillon uses a four-guard attack in most games. Junior guard Zynijah Pernell is often the first person off the bench along with sophomore shooting guard Azyriah Ford who contributed seven points in the recent win over Waccamaw. Some other hard-working players include Jaziyah Leggette , Zadaiya Moody , Alyssa Lee , Jaleah Bethea and Kiasia McLeod .  “I honestly believe that with a completely healthy team we are capable of making a deep play-off run and competing for a state championship,” said Coach McMillian. “These girls have it within themselves to make that happen.”

Dillon Boys’ Basketball Hoping To Place Second In Region By Billy G. Baker Publisher Dillon —In the nearly 40 years that Bryan Grice has been a head basketball coach, at various high schools, he says that his 2024-25 senior laden Dillon High boys’ varsity team reminds him of an experienced team he once coached at Robinson County that made a deep play-off win. “When you have a veteran group of senior players, who know your system, and a group of experienced players who have been together for a long time, sometimes you just turn them loose and let them play the game on their own,” said Coach Grice, who has 13 seniors on his 16- man Wildcat roster. “This is how I feel about this group this season.” With their 50-41 win over Marlboro County on February, 8 the Wildcats improved their over-all record to 11-8 and they are 4-3 in the region with two region games left against Georgetown and Waccamaw . “If we win these two remaining games, we will clinch second place in the region and have at least one home play-off game in the play-offs and that is our goal,” said Coach Grice. “These kids want to win and they approach every game like a practice game. They like competition.” The team got a player eligible in the second semester that has helped the team’s offensive production. Sinclair Taylor is a senior shooting guard averaging 8 points and four rebounds a game.  “He brings a lot of energy to the court and he gives 100 per cent effort,” said Coach Grice of Taylor. “He is a real good on-ball defender.” The team is led in scoring by junior small forward Zay Robertson who is averaging 15 points and 3.5 rebounds a game. “Zay is our go-to player when we need points,” said Coach Grice. “He is a good shooter and he is very unselfish with the basketball.” Coach Grice calls senior point guard Jamarion Fling the teams “facilitator” because he distributes the ball very well. “Over the past year he has learned to attack the rim much better also,” said Coach Grice. Fling is averaging 7.5 points and 2.8 rebounds a game. The team’s starting power forward is senior Rahmad Hamilton who is currently averaging 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds a game. “Rahmad is like having a coach on the floor,” said Coach Grice. “The other players listen to him and he expects good decisions with the ball in his hands.” The 5 th starter for the Wildcats is 6-3 center Jazier Walker averaging 5.4 points and a team leading 8.9 rebounds a game. “His job is to control the paint both offensively and defensively,” said Coach Grice. A few key reserves off the bench include senior guard Jacob Hunt who can play the two or three and he is averaging 4.2 points. Senior 6-4 big-man Kyhiem Lester is the back-up center and Zep Campbell comes in and provides good ball handling skills. “With recent flu on the team and the injury to guard Markis Morrison we are going with 10 players right now,” said Coach Grice. “Our goal is to win our last two regular season games and get focused on a play-off run.”

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Dillon —After the Dillon High girl’s basketball team finished (19-6, 9-1) a year ago, with no seniors on the team, expectations are very high for even greater season during the 2024-25 season.  After 11 games of the season, Dillon is 8-3 and the injury bug has hit the team very hard. “We have not been at full strength, as a team, since our second game of the season,” said veteran Dillon head coach James McMillian , now in his 9 th season with the Wildcats. “ Mariah Campbell has missed our last 9 games and Treasure Davis has missed our last five games, and she was limited with a wrist injury in the third game of the season, and she tried to play a few games with limited minutes before we had to rest her. “We expect to have both players back in the very near future, and when we are at full- strength I feel really good about our chances for a deep play-off run,” said Coach McMillian. “The silver lining is that having several platers out early in the season, it has made us have to play other players more, and they have stepped up and gained valuable experience. “I feel like we will be ready for a strong finish, once we get everyone healthy,” said Coach McMillian. “We just hope the rest of our season, after the holiday break, will be like our first two wins of the season.” Dillon opened the season against Conway on December, 6 th with Davis ( a freshman who scored 654 points in her 7 th and 8 th grade seasons) leading all scorers with 21 points while Campbell was next in scoring with 11 points. Dillon played Crestwood the next day, and avenged a loss to the Knights, who ended the Wildcats season in 2023-24 with a second -round win over the Wildcats. With Davis and Campbell scoring 18 and 14 points respectively Dillon improved to 2-0 with a 58-55 win. Then four days later, with Campbell out, due to a medical issue, Dillon went to Crestwood and won 57-52. Davis scored 26 points to lead the team. However, Coach McMillian was very impressed with soph guard Khwnylahi McKinnon stepping up with 19 points in the game. Then in game four, with Campbell out, and Davis playing only four or five minutes with the wrist injury she sustained in the fourth period versus Crestwood, Dillon improved to 4-0 with a 38-23 win over Conway. McKinnon led the offense with 11 points, and this time senor guard Ayonna Lester stepped up and scored 10 points in the Wildcats win. In limited action, Davis scored 9 points. Over the next seven games Dillon went 4-3 with wins over Marion (55-48), Purnell Sweat , NC (52-45), Red Springs , NC (54-34) and Manning (51-38). The losses came against Fairmont , NC (L 54-41), Blythewood (L 63-25), and Scott’s Branch (L 44-43). Against Marion, Davis poured in a career high 41 points. Against Manning, McKinnon dropped in a season high 25 points. While Campbell has been out, two players have stepped up in her place. They are soph guard Azyriah Ford and junior guard Zynijah Pernell . The other starter for Dillon is senior forward Zadaiya Moody. Other hard-working members of the team include junior PF Jiana McGill , sophomore guard Jaziyah Leggette , junior PF Alyssa Lee , junior PF Jaleah Bethea , and senior PF Kiasia McLeod . Coming into January, Dillon is led by three players in double figures. Davis, a top freshman prospect, is averaging 21.7 points and 9 rebounds in the games she has played in. Davis is also averaging 3.1 steals and 2.1 steals a game. Campbell is at 12.5 points a game including six rebounds and 3.5 assists a game. McKinnon is averaging 10.7 points and 5.3 rebounds a game including three assists a game. Lester is having a solid year with six points and 5.3 rebounds a game and she leads the team in steals at 3.4 a game. In January Dillon will play 9 games. They start off at home against Lake View on Jan. 8 th before starting the region schedule at home against Loris on the 10 th . On the 14 th they travel to Lake View before a road region game at Marlboro County on the 17 th . Games follow at home against Waccamaw on the 21 st , away at Georgetown on the 24 th , before an away game at Loris on the 28 th . Dillon then closes out the month of January with a home game against Aynor on the 31 st .

Dillon's Zay Robertson, All-Region and All-State Receiver plus 200 meter Sprint champion.

OCA's Sophomore QB Aiden Manavian threw for over 200 yards and 3 TDs in the win over Dillon.