Blue Ridge defeats Orangeburg-Wilkinson, wins first SC basketball state championship
Justin Bailey and the Blue Ridge basketball team weren’t going to be denied.
Bailey, a senior guard, put his team on his back this season and he and the team capped their campaign with a 49-42 victory in the Class 3A boys championship in front of a sold-out USC Aiken Convocation Center.
It was the Tigers’ first state championship in basketball for the school. which opened in 1954.
“It’s surreal. It’s a Cinderella story,” Bailey said. “We stuck with it. A lot of people counted us out and didn’t believe in us. But we are champions and no one could ever take this away from us.”
After scoring 38 points in the state semifinal, Bailey drained 29 points and added 11 rebounds against the Bruins. The USC Upstate signee scored 10 of his team’s 11 points in the fourth quarter to seal it.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Bailey dribbled the ball and threw it up in the air as the final buzzer sounded.
Bailley, the Class 3A Player of the Year, averaged 34.6 points per game in the postseason.
“If I had a nickel for every time I heard he (Justin Bailey) was transferring from his freshman year in high school or that he is OK for Blue Ridge and not great,” Blue Ridge coach Richie Stevens said. “Justin Bailey is great. I know there is an argument out there, but he is the best player in the state.
Orangeburg-Wilkinson led 24-23 at halftime, but Blue Ridge took the lead early in the third and was up 45-39 with 4:36 to play after a Bailey basket. Horace Jacques got O-W within 45-42 on a 3-pointer with 4:16 left, but the Bruins didn’t score another point the rest of the game.
The loss ends O-W’s season at 27-4. It was the Bruins’ first championship appearance since winning it all in 1982. Jacques led the way with 15 and Jordan Simpson had 10.
OW: Washington 5, Jordan Simpson 10, Horace Jacques 15, Sanders 4, Bowman 2, J. Jacques 2, Gordon 4.
BR: Hall 3, Justin Bailey 29, Skinner 3, Stokes 5, Douglas 3, Enloe 6.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 10:11 PM.
