Dynamic in dynasty, elite in efficiency.
Host South Central ruled Jacksonville, 71-45, in the Big Carolina Conference girls' high school basketball tournament championship Friday night. Ahead by just nine in the third quarter, the home team sprinted ahead by more than 30 in the final period, winning for the 50th time in 53 outings against league brethren the last four years.
A tournament with best seeds at home and two road victors ended with 16th-year head coach Robert Duck’s regular season queens dancing to a crown they were denied by D.H. Conley a year ago. South Central supremacy includes 13 of 19 regular season championships.
“This is a good one to get,” Duck said. “I’m proud of these girls because it’s their team. They run this program. They do a really good job.”
Top-seeded South Central (24-2) captured win No. 13 in succession and its 22nd of 23 dating to November. The three wins over the Cardinals were by a combined 87 points (28, 33, 26), an impressive notch as the calendar next week turns to March and games from this weekend’s state playoff seeds unveiling.
“All of my seniors played either three or four years – they were COVID babies,” Duck said. “We do a really good job in that, this is a program that people want to be a part of and we have had a lot of sustained success. They see that.”
The Cardinals of head coach Kerry Pearce, earners of the second seed, exited 20-5 with their only losses since Dec. 6 coming to the Falcons. They enter the postseason winners in 15 of 18.
Only thrice in 14 tries did Big Carolina programs play South Central closer than 30-point decisions.
“We buy into the team-first mentality on the defensive end of the floor,” Duck said of why his team is playoff ready. “On the offensive end, we share that basketball. We’ll be really hard to beat.”
Sophomore Brook Evans scored 21 points, senior Sabraya Baker 18, junior Jaidyn Boswell 11 and sophomore Niyani Mayo nine. Accuracy five times from 3-point range highlighted Baker’s evening.
Senior Ama Baldwin scored nine points to lead the Cardinals. Eight each were scored by juniors Serayah White, Kelize Velez-Galan and freshman Destini Benton.
South Central never trailed by more than a possession early and led at the quarter marks by 11, 11 and 22.
The Falcons were lethal early from distance. The pressure defense heated up as the first half wore on. Jacksonville had defensive success briefly in the 94-foot game, but never enough consistently in the half-court sets.
South Central ball movement on the perimeter was crisp, an extra pass often creating yawning separation for the long shots.
“We take pride in keeping that ball hot and finding the open player,” Duck said. “We’ve got plenty of girls that can score that basketball. One of them came off the bench tonight that is an elite scorer. But you’ve got to play defense to play here. We’ve got some girls that are playing defense at a high level right now.”
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