Photos by Elizabeth Bailey Johnson Cardinal Newman's Jake Motto goes in for two against an Augusta Christian defender. Michael Littlejohn scored his 1,000th career point at Cardinal Newman, finishing with 21 overall, while leading the Cardinals into the finals of SCISA Region II-AAA basketball tournament with a 43- 34 win over Augusta Christian on Monday, February 18.

Littlejohn, a senior, scored six points in the opening quarter, a time when both teams were feeling each other out. The two teams had split the regular- season matchups and seemed evenly matched. This showed in the scoring, as they were tied after one quarter at 12. The Cardinals put on a little run in the second quarter, outscoring the Lions 11- 6 to take a five- point lead at the half.

Augusta Christian came back to tie the score after three quarters at 30, paced by six points each from seniors Tyler Bourdo and Fred Auston. But the Cardinals came back with some hard- nosed defense in the fourth quarter, limiting the Lions to just four points. Littlejohn scored nine of his 21 in the fourth, including his milestone basket with approximately four minutes to play. Littlejohn also grabbed 10 rebounds, second on the team to Jake Motto's 12. Bourdo led the Lions with 13 points.

The Cardinals advanced to play top seed Hammond, a two- point winner over tournament host Ben Lippen in the early game. In that game, Daniel Bailey scored the winning basket with just under eight seconds to go, and the Skyhawks had to survive a last second three by Mitchell Deter that rimmed out. Augusta Christian waits to hear its state tournament seeding.