Irmo boys down West Ashley for Class 4A Lower State championship

Irmo started running and never looked back Saturday night at the Florence Civic Center.

The Yellow Jackets didn’t have their best shooting night, according to head coach Tim Whipple, but they were good enough to cruise past West Ashley 54-41 in the 4A Lower State championship game.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well, but this is a tough place to play,” Whipple said. “It’s so wide open and you don’t get a chance to play in a place like this. I thought our guys did a great job.”

The Yellow Jackets (24-4) will face Byrnes for the 4A state championship on Friday at the Colonial Life Arena. The Upper State champion Rebels ousted Spring Valley 69-66 Saturday night at the Bons Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville.

Shooting may have been a slight problem for the Yellow Jackets, who were 20-for-45 from the floor. But West Ashley (21-5) went 10-for-36.

“We knew we were going to have trouble scoring in here,” Wildcats head coach Ronnie DuPre said. “In this big arena with different lines, we’re shooting a little further out than we normally do, and it was just a situation where they (the Yellow Jackets) were too good for us.”

R.J. Gunn and Noah Jenkins paced the Yellow Jackets. Gunn had a game-high 20 points with 10 rebounds, and Jenkins at 15 points.

Scoring was hard to come by in the first half for both teams. Irmo managed 22 points, but West Ashley was 3-for-12 in shooting, and had 13 turnovers.

“I do think the environment here, that helped our defense,” Whipple said. “They didn’t shoot the ball very well in the first half and they had a lot of turnovers.”

Irmo led 22-11 at the half, but really grabbed hold of the game in the third quarter. As West Ashley struggled to get the ball in the net, Irmo closed out the third quarter with an 11-0 run to take a 41-18 lead.

Irmo held off the Wildcats in the fourth quarter to earn the chance of winning its first state title since 2013 and third since 2011. For Whipple, the goal is always the same at the beginning of each season.

“You start the year hoping to get to this point and we’re getting the opportunity to do it, it’s a pretty good feeling,” Whipple said. “Our guys did a fantastic job of putting themselves in a position to win a state championship. You’re only as good a coach as your players. Your guys need to be willing to buy into the program and do what you’re supposed to do, and this group has certainly done that.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 10:34 PM.