North Augusta 63 – Westside 50
by Chris Dearing
COLONIAL LIFE ARENA
- While Ridge View can stake the claim as the most dominant boys basketball program in South Carolina in the last decade, North Augusta can make the case on the girls side of things.
- All five starters scored in double figures as the Yellow Jackets won their seventh state championship in the last decade with a convincing 63-50 victory over Westside Saturday afternoon.
- Celena Grant and Azaria Sapp led the attack with 15 points each with Ashley Walker adding 11 points and Messiah Williams and Kenedi Wright each chipped in with 10 points. Williams had a double-double with 12 rebounds and Grant just missed the double-double with nine boards.
- Since 2017, these two teams have combined to capture nine state championships. North Augusta has won seven – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025 and 2026. Westside won titles in 2021 and 2022, with the Rams defeating the Yellow Jackets in 2022.
- North Augusta coach Al Young, a former NFL player with Pittsburgh, has been the coach for five of those titles.
- “I’m truly excited and I know our players are,” Young said. “I was just to see us finish, especially for our seniors. I wanted them to go out as winners. They kind of slipped up two years ago but they will have three titles in their four years. That’s special and something they will talk about for a long time.”
- The Yellow Jackets (28-1) never trailed but only held a 26-24 lead at the half after leading by nine points early in the first half. They took charge in the third quarter when they outscored the Rams (27-2) 18-10 to push the lead to 44-34 entering the final period. The biggest lead was 16 before settling for the 13-point victory.
- Tiana Marshall and Makyhia Paul led the Westside attack with 12 points and Harmoni Earl chipped in with 11 points.
North Augusta Final Stats
Westside Final Stats
