Girl's Basketball | 2/24/2025 2:02:00 PM
Mt. Pleasant, SC – The Oceanside Collegiate Academy Landsharks' girls' basketball team punched its ticket to Florence and the SCHSL Lower State title game with a 55-41 victory over Keenan on Saturday afternoon at the OCA gym.
The Landsharks (22-5) will take on Dillon High on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. for the right to advance to next weeks' Class AAA state championship game.
The overall team performance in the victory over Keenan (18-7) left OCA coach
Mandy Harrison gushing with pride.
"The Coaches have been working around the clock developing a game plan and preparing the ladies for this moment," Harrison said. "The execution, poise, grit and determination these young women showed was amazing to witness."
The Landsharks posted their ninth consecutive game overall by leaning on their veteran players – senior co-captains
Teagan Scott and
Ella Mae Schepp – as well as a trio of juniors – Josie and
Henley Hanks along with
Ella Hunter.
"We won on the boards, and we won in the turnover battle," Harrison said. "We won on the defensive end, and we won on the scoreboard. Most importantly, it was a complete team effort. The fans showed up and made this historic moment truly unforgettable.
The game started slowly, with the Landsharks building a 12-9 lead in the opening quarter and
Henley Hanks and Schepp scored four points each. Keenan freshman point guard Taelor Lee-Sutton scored the first seven of her game-high 19 points in that opening period.
OCA turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter to hold the Raiders to just five points, pushing the Landsharks' lead to 24-14 by halftime.
Sutton kept the Raiders close in the third quarter, but OCA took a 39-31 lead into the final quarter. The Landsharks connected on five of their seven free throws down the stretch to help put the game away while Keenan managed to hit just two of eight.
Schepp led OCA with 16 points while
Henley Hanks scored 13 and Hunter added 12.
Josie Hanks and Scott had seven points each.
"Henley provided great lift and had one of her best games of the season," Harrison said.
The Landsharks immediately turned their attention toward Friday's showdown against Dillon (22-3), which advanced to the Lower State title game with a dominating 66-26 victory over Newberry on Saturday. The Wildcats come into the game having won 19 consecutive contests and currently stand third in the Class AAA state rankings, behind No. 1 Walhalla and the second-ranked Landsharks.
"We are hard at work on preparing the game plan for Friday," Harrison said.
Like Keenan, Dillon is led by a freshman guard, Treasure Davis, who is averaging 18.2 points per game on the year. She posted an amazing 41-point performance against Marion in December and scored 36 points in a game against Loris in late January. In addition to her offensive performance, she has 137 rebounds and 81 steals on the year.
Despite those gaudy numbers, Davis is not the only offensive threat for the Wildcats. Sophomore Khwnylani McKinnon averages 13.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while senior Mariah Campbell is averaging 10.6 points per game.
The winner of Friday's game will move on to face either Walhalla (25-3) or St. Joseph's Catholic (15-8) for the Class AAA state championship on Thursday, March 6, at 6 p.m.
About Oceanside Collegiate Academy: Oceanside Collegiate Academy (OCA), located in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while earning up to two years of college credit. OCA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades
Learn more about OCA by visiting our website at OceansideCollegiate.Academy and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and X. For video content, visit our YouTube channel.
