Porter-Gaud rallies in fourth quarter to beat Augusta Christian 68-65 for SCISA AAAA boys title

        Sumter – The Augusta Christian School boys basketball team had to be feeling pretty good about its chances of winning the SCISA AAAA state championship late I the third quarter of the title game agasint Porter-Gaud on Friday.

       The Lions had turned a 4=point halftime lead into as much as a 14-point cushion in the third quarter. They were leading 52-39 after Ty Shine drilled a 3-poiont baket from the left corner with 51 seonds remaining in the quarter.

       The Cyclones’ Griff Ferraro was fouled attempting a 3 with 12 seconds left. He connected on all three to make the score 52-42 enterig the fourth quarter. Whether that had anything to do with what happened the rest o the way is up for debate, but P-G dominated the final stanza and rallied for a 68-65 victory at Sumter County Civic Center.

       “We were like a pack of dogs,” said Ferraro. "We turned into a whole different team at the end of that one. We really came together as a team. We moved the ball and our defense went to a whole other level. I’ve never seen us play like that. It’s something special.

” I feel like everyone stepped up and played their roles perfectly.”

       The Cyclones, who finished the season with a 22-5 record, won their first state championship since 2016. It was the third title the school has won under the guidance of head coach John Pearson.

       Pearson, who has been in charge since the 2007 season, didn’t know if his team could pull off the comeback, but he did know one thing.

       “One thing about this group that I can really say is, no matter what, this group never quit.” Pearson said. “They kept showing up, they kept wanting to get better. They’d get frustrated, then things would get a little better, and here we are now.

       “What I did know for sure -- I didn’t know we’d win, it was looking kind of rough, I knew they weren’t going to quit. I knew that. .In a situation like that, that’s all you can really ask for.”

       And it didn’t take P-G long to get back in the contest. Two free throws from Ferraro and a bucket from point guard John-Michael Jenkins made it 52-46 37 seconds into the fourth quarter. After a tip-in by ACS’ Aamere Tolbert, Ferraro drained a trey and hit a jumper in the lane before Kateaux Miller canned a 3 to tie the game at 54-54 with 4:41 left in the contest.

       Once they got that lead, we started playing better defense,” Pearson said. “Some of my shooters came alive and hit some shots.”

       Shine hit two free throws to put Augusta Christian, which finished with a 27-3 record, back on top. Jenkins came up with a steal and layup and Miller hit a free throw to give Porter-Gaud its first lead since the first half at 57-56 with 2:09 to go.

       It ws back and forth afer that with the Lions taking their final lead on a tremendous 3-point play by Shine that made it 65-64 with 30 seconds remaining. Ferraro hit a reverse layup to make it 66-65 th 18 seconds left.

       Shine tried to make an interior bounce pass, but it was stolen by Jenkins with six seconds to go. He was fouled and hit both free throws for the 3-point cushion, and Shine’s 3-point attempt on a good look at the buzzer hit off the front of the rim.

       “We knew we had the team to make the comeback, so we weren’t nervous whatsoever,” Jenkins aid. “Being patient was the key for us. We didn’t rush any shots. We just stuck to the game plan.”

       Ferraro, a senior, led the Cyclones wit 27 points. Jenkins, also a senior, added 21, while Miller, a sophomore, had 16. Banks Butler and Griff Domm, the other two seniors in the starting lineup, had two points apiece.

       First-year ACS head coach Brian Slade said his team was simply unable to slow Porter-Gaud down in the final period.

       “We couldn’t get the stops when we needed them,” Slade said. “They did a good job with the mismatches. We tried to do some offense-defense substitutions, but that didn’t work out.”

       ACS had a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures led by the sophomore Shine. He had 15 points while massive 6-foot-8-inch center Uzziah Morton had 14. Tolbert and Bryce Reynierson, both seniors, had 12 apiece.

       Malachai Jones added six and Chuck Schwarz had three.

       Although the Lions came up short of the ultimate goal, Slade hopes his players realize just how special their season was.

       “I know they’re hurting right now, but when they get a chance for a little perspective, I hope they’ll see what a great year they had,” Slade said. “We won 23 straight games. That’s a great year.”

       Ferraro, Jenkins and Butller were selected to the All-Tournament team along with Shine and Reynierson. Hammond’s Jaiden Haltiwanger was also selected to the team.

       Winning state was a matter of perseverance, according to Pearson.

       “We’ve had our ups and downs, a lot of downs at the beginning of the year. We just kept plugging away.”

       For Ferraro and Jenkins, it’s a tremendous way to close out their careers.

       “It means a lot,” Ferraro said.. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. To get knocked out of the playoffs three years straight, we needed this."

“That’s the last basketball game of my high school career, I’m so excited,” Jenkins said. "I get to tell all my family and friends we did it, we brought home a state championship.”