Champs!

The W.J. Keenan Raiders are the S.C. Boys Class 2A State Champions for the 2009–2010 season! They are #1 Marcus Stroman, 8th; #3 Eric Washington, Jr; #5 Josh Harper, So; #10 Jacob Green, Sr; #11 Quinton Johnson, So; #12 Kiante Curenton, So; #14 Trey Stroman, So; #15 Kenny Reed, Sr; #21 Kevon Goodwin, Jr; #22 Kenny Morgan, Sr; #30 Dennis Rowe, Sr; #33 Bradley Smith, Sr; #40 Chad Jasper, Sr; #41 Sam Harmon, 8th; #42 Eric Tisdale, So; #44 James Barnes, Sr; #50 Leontre Johnson, Fr; Zach Norris, head coach; James Smith, assistant coach; Asten Lawson, assistant coach; David Mesimore, athletics director; and Alvin Pressley, principal.

The idea – that this would be the team to return Keenan to its boys basketball championship glory – took root during the summer.

“We were returning a lot of key players, so we knew we had a shot at the state title,” sophomore Quinton Johnson said.

“We may have lost one or two games of the 30 or so we played at camps, and those we lost we were right there,” coach Zach Norris said. “We played Burke down at The Citadel, and we beat them by one or two points. So we knew coming into this game we had a good shot.”

But transforming the idea into reality was anything but smooth – despite the efficient and effective second half that produced a 57–47 victory against Burke in the Class 2A final at the Colonial Life Arena on March 6.

And that transformation was almost stopped when seniors Bradley Smith and Jacob Green were suspended from the team before the season in a disciplinary matter. Without them, Keenan started 5–7.

Keenan’s Jacob Green dribbles by Burke’s Sidney Sanders.

“After the Christmas tournament, when our inexperienced players learned how to play under pressure, I began to think we had a chance,” said junior guard Eric Washington, who finished with nine points against Burke. “We knew we were down because two of our starters weren’t there, but we learned how to play together in that stretch.”

From that low–water mark, the Raiders finished the season 17–1 buoyed by the late–season reinstatements of Smith and Green. Keenan capped the stretch by winning its first four playoff games by an average of 29 points.

“(I’ll remember this) as a team of adversity because we’ve been through some ups and downs,” Norris said. “I want to remember how they got together and peaked in the playoffs, but, really, it was the last time around in our region that you could see the confidence start to come.”

Given that history, when Keenan (22–8) missed some easy baskets, committed 11 turnovers, gave up a couple of fastbreak buckets en route to trailing by three, 25–22, at halftime, no one in Keenan’s locker room said he was concerned.

Keenan’s Dennis Rowe shoots a jumper over Burke’s Michael Hayward.

“The coaches told us guards we had to step up,” Washington said. “It was like, this is where you grow up and be a man because nobody is going to give it to you.”

‘’They could get into the lane – that wasn’t the problem,” Norris said of his guard play. “But it was what they would do with the ball once they got there that was the key. They needed to relax. They were trying to force it in the first half, which is what led them to throwing the ball away. They settled down.”

In addition to talking with the Raider guards, Norris and his staff switched from Keenan’s traditional man–to–man to a 2–3 match–up zone at halftime. With the new defense, the Raiders held Burke (26–3) scoreless for more than five minutes of the third quarter, to four points in the period, and to 36 percent shooting from the floor (9 of 25) in the second half.

Keenan’s Eric Washington tries to get by Burke’s Eric Coaxum.

“The zone helped us out a lot,” Johnson said. “It slowed them down a little bit; they couldn’t get into the lane. We were so big; we controlled it.”

Keenan took the lead, 32–29, by finishing the third quarter on an 8–0 run and nursed a three– to five–point lead until the 3:30 mark of the fourth, when a 6–0 run secured the Raiders’ first title since they went back–to–back in 2000 and 2001.

“We knew we were going to win because we had faith in each other,” said Green, who finished with a team–high 12 points. “We never stopped believing. Through it all, we’ve always been together, like a close family.”

On offense, Keenan shot 50–percent from the floor and converted 15 of 18 free throws in the second half. In addition to Green and Washington, seniors Dennis Rowe and Kenny Reed finished with 11 and eight points, respectively. Johnson finished with nine and reflected on the season amid the joyous and tearful locker room celebration, “We did what we said we were going to do: Come to the Colonial Center and take it home.”

Keenan’s Quinton Johnson shoots over Burke’s Fadol Brown.

Keenan’s Kenny Reed drives against Burke.

Keenan’s Bradley Smith shoots over Burke’s Del’ Javon Simmons.

Keenan head coach Zach Norris watches from the sidelines.