Bishop England’s final season in Class 2A ended like the previous two – with a championship.
Jo Jo Tompkins scored 12 points and the Bishops took control of the game with a second-half run to defeat Keenan 53-37 on Saturday in the Class 2A championship game at Colonial Life Arena.
“When you sit back later, it will mean something with the company it puts you in,” Bishop England coach Paul Runey said of winning three titles in a row. “Some of these girls played in a championship game all four years, so I’m happy for them. I’m happy for the school and our players.”
Bishop England (26-2), which is moving up to Class 3A in next year’s realignment, becomes the first girls’ team since Dutch Fork in 2012-14 to win three consecutive titles. The Bishops have won 15 playoff games in a row, with their last loss coming in the 2013 championship game to Keenan.
The Raiders, who were in their third title game in the past five years, jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game. But Bishop England withstood the push and outscored Keenan 13-4 to end the quarter.
The Bishops extended to a 10-point lead before Keenan cut it to 35-30 on a Breia Jackson jumper late in the third quarter. But the Bishops went on a 10-2 run and led 45-32 with 5:30 left.
“We shot the ball well early to get a lead, but once we got behind we started playing a style that we didn’t want to play,” Keenan coach Reggie McLain said. “We shot a lot more jump shots than we normally do. And then they started hitting shots and it seemed like it never stopped.”
The Bishops hit six 3-pointers, including three from Hannah Corbett.
The Raiders shot 15.4 percent from the field in the second half. Their 37 points were the second lowest total of the season for the Raiders, who scored 34 points in a loss to Lower Richland in the second game of the season.
Jackson led Keenan (19-7) with 16 points. Le’on Hill had 12 rebounds and five blocks.
“Hopefully, this will be a stepping stone for us,” McLain said. “We got a lot of young players coming back. And, hopefully, they will be excited to get back next year.”
K: Breia Jackson 16, Hill 4, Robinson 6, McDaniel 7, Hickman 2. B-E: Penninger 1, McQueeney 7, Moore 9, Jo Jo Tompkins 12, Corbett 9, Tucker 4, Rose 7, Egede 4
