Dreher’s Quayshun Hawkins guards Darlington’s Devine Joint. Quayshun Hawkins scored 23 of his game–high 27 points in the second half, but it was not enough to save Dreher as the Darlington Falcons came in to Columbia and ruined the Blue Devils’ championship dreams with a 73–71 victory Tuesday, February 23. Dreher star Chris Brown chipped in 15 points but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Brown started the game with a three–pointer for Dreher, and the Blue Devils ended up with 13 baskets from beyond the arch, but Darlington used a balanced attack to counter Dreher’s outside prowess. David Lighty and Devin Joint each finished with 15 points. Sammie Davis added 14, Jordan Scott had 11, and Torey Wright got 10 points for the Region VI AAA champion Falcons.

The atmosphere was electric as Darlington fans, cheerleaders, and a Lady Falcon mascot filled half the packed Dreher gymnasium. Wright’s lay up with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter gave Darlington a 10–8 lead, but another three–pointer by Brown sparked an 8–0 Dreher run to close the quarter.

The Falcons scored the first six points of the second quarter to tie the game 16–16. Brown then got loose behind the Darlington defense for a lay up to end the run. He added a couple of free throws after getting fouled on another breakaway. After a couple of free throws from Lighty for Darlington, Hawkins was fouled on a three– point attempt, but could only get one free throw to fall giving the Blue Devils a 21–18 lead. The Falcons then went on a 13–2 run to close the half. Jordan Scott blew a dunk for Darlington on the run but came back a possession later to throw down a thunderous dunk to set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Down eight, the Blue Devils turned to Hawkins to start the second half. He responded with two straight three–pointers. Darlington in turn responded with a 7–0 run to take a 38–29 lead. The lead was cut to four after a Hawkins three–pointer, but nine quick points from Joint built the Darlington lead to 51–43 going into the final quarter.

Continued sharp –shooting from Hawkins along with a three–pointer from Tyler Harris brought Dreher within four with 6:01 remaining, but ten fourth quarter points from Davis helped the Falcons push the lead to 67–57 with 1:14 to go in the game.

The Blue Devils did not quit. After a steal, Derrick Halback drained a three–pointer, and then Harris tied up Scott to give Dreher the ball back. James Whitehead’s driving lay up closed the gap to five. Four Darlington free throws pushed the lead back to nine with 30 seconds remaining.

Harris then hit a three–pointer to make it 71–65 with 21 seconds on the clock. Scott then got one of two free throws to fall, and Hawkins promptly drained another three– pointer to cut the Darlington lead to 72–68 with 11 seconds remaining. Scott then made one of two free throws again. Hawkins responded with yet another three–pointer to make it 73–71 Darlington, but it was too late and the clock expired to advance Darlington to the Lower State championship in Charleston at The Citadel Saturday, February 27.