Powerhouse North Augusta denies Westwood girls’ bid for first state championship
After a two-year absence, North Augusta is back on top of Class 4A girls basketball.
The Yellow Jackets used a big second half to defeat Westwood, 42-29, on Thursday in the state championship game at USC Aiken Convocation Center.
It is the Yellow Jackets’ fifth state championship in the last seven years. North Augusta won four consecutive championships from 2017-2020.
The championship comes less than three months after North Augusta coach Al Young’s son., Al B., died in December.
“It has been a tough year for all of us. It’s been tough for me. I was mentally tired but my kids picked things up and pulled me through,” North Augusta coach Al Young said. “I can’t take the credit. First it goes to God, my wife, coaching staff and our kids for hanging in there. I know they were tired. There were times they didn’t want to come into the gym but they did. I’m just so proud of them, our administration and our school.”
P’eris Smith led North Augusta with 13 points. Smith missed 13 games this season with an injury but returned to the lineup on Jan. 23.
The loss ends Westwood’s first-state championship appearance. The Redhawks were looking for their first state championship in any team sport in school history.
It is the third time the Redhawks lost to North Augusta in the postseason. The Yellow Jackets defeated Westwood twice in the Upper State semifinals in 2017 and 2018.
“At the beginning of the year, even though this was our goal, I don’t think anybody outside the Westwood community thought it was a realistic goal,” Westwood coach Gregory Bauldrick said. “So, first of all, we are proud and we love them. They have done something that has never been done before. … I think we will learn from this. Those that will come next, hopefully they will have the opportunity to right this mishap tonight.”
Bauldrick preached to his team during the pregame speech to “play without any regrets and not leave anything in the tank.”
Westwood’s players definitely did that but couldn’t overcome one of its worst shooting performances of the year. The Redhawks shot just 20.8 percent from the field and were held to a season-low in points.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 9-2 lead and were up 13-8 after the first quarter but scored just 16 points the rest of the way.
The game was sloppy at times. The two teams combined for just six points in the second quarter with Westwood hitting one free throw but still led 14-13 at halftime.
But the Yellow Jackets outscored the Redhawks 20-6 in the third quarter, and Westwood would only get as close as nine points the rest of the way.
“In the second we started to get to get in a hurry for some unknown reasons, but we still were in a good position at the half,” Bauldrick said. “... In the third quarter, they just sped us up and played harder at that time and got us uncomfortable. From that point, the wheels came off.”
Jessica Woods led Westwood with 10 points.
NA: Bryant 5, Gartell 9, Wright 4, Grant 9, P’eris Smith 13, Walker 2. W: Jessica Woods 10, Thompson 3, Johnson 9, Omeire 2, Daniels 5.
This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 7:10 PM.
