Perfect 10! Keenan boys basketball wins another SC state championship
Before taking the court for Thursday’s state championship game, Keenan players passed around rings won by previous Raider teams.
Coach Zach Norris and his staff wanted his squad to see what the reward would be if they were able to close the deal against Powdersville.
Two hours later, this year’s Raiders made sure they would be getting their own rings after holding off a late Patriots rally for a 58-53 win in the Class 3A championship game at the Florence Center.
“Before the game, I didn’t want to touch the ring. I wanted my own,” senior Brian Sumpter said. “And now we are getting one.”
“It was on my fingers so I was like, I got to get one,” senior Nyheim McNeil said. “It was for the culture. It was for The Cove (Keenan’s nickname for its arena).”
Norris said he plans to sit his seniors down Monday morning so they can begin designing this year’s championship ring.
It is Keenan’s 10th state state championship in program history with eight coming under Norris, who left Newberry to become the school’s head coach in 1999. The Raiders’ 10 state championships tie them with Calhoun County for second most all-time behind Great Falls, which has 11.
But it is Keenan’s first since 2020, something that Norris has been preaching to his team during the postseason run about knocking down the door and getting another championship.
The Raiders lost to Gray Collegiate in the playoffs the last two years and Seneca and Blue Ridge before that, failing to reach the state championship game each time.
“I thought I was snakebit for a while because I am used to getting there,” Norris said. “For our community, we expect to get here. It is not a good year unless we get to the state championship. That is the atmosphere and culture I want.”
Norris, who had been contemplating retirement the past few years, said the championship has given him a little spark and he plans to coach at least three more years and see this freshman class through. The Raiders started two freshmen, Antoine Caughman and Malik Brunson, on Thursday.
Caughman had his second straight big performance and led the Raiders with 17 points. Brunson added nine, seven in the first quarter, as the Raiders got off to a fast start.
McNeil added 15 and Sumpter, a Wofford signee, had 10. Sumpter, who struggled in the semifinal win over Loris, had a couple of big moments in the fourth quarter as the Raiders were able to hold off the defending Class 3A champions.
Keenan, which led by as many as 12 points in the third quarter, saw its lead shrink to 44-42 on Colton Kreger’s basket with 4:46 left. That was part of an 8-0 run in the fourth as Keenan went more than three minutes without a basket.
But the Raiders responded as McNeil broke free for a pair of layups as he scored nine of his 15 in the fourth quarter and the Raiders led 53-46 with 1:01 left. Keenan, which had a size advantage, grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds after missed free throws to help preserve the win.
“I told them to relax and stop throwing the ball away,” Norris said. I told them we are better than them defensively so we had to get the ball away. That’s what they did.”
Von Burton led Powdersville with 19 points. Jaleel McGee had 15 and Quan Burton had 13.
P: Kreger 4, Jaleel McGee 15, Williams 2, Quan Burton 13, Von Burton 19. K: Brian Sumpter 10, Antoine Caughman 17, Anderson 4, Nyheim McNeil 15, Brunson 9, Simmons 3.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 10:49 PM.
