Heathwood Hall Snaps Eagles Win Streak

by HS Sports

2011 SCISA State Champion Heathwood Hall 

Saturday, January 7, the South Carolina Independent School Association's (SCISA) defending AAA state champion Heathwood Hall Highlanders handed the Augusta Eagles their first defeat since their December 1st loss to Dominion Christian from Marietta, GA.  Sandwiched between the losses were 9 consecutive victories.  The Eagles now sport a 13-3 record heading into the final month of the regular season.  Augusta's next tests include a January 13 scrimmage versus Georgia Elite (8:30, Patriots Park in Grovetown, GA) and a January 14 game in Easley, SC, versus the homeschool Easley Guardians.


See the video directly below for highlights of the January 7 game between Heathwood Hall and the Augusta Eagles.

After opening the season with tough contests against two of the top private school (Mount Vernon from Atlanta, GA) and homeschool (Central Virginia Patriots from Richmond, VA) teams on the east coast, the Eagles opened December with a hard fought 67-66 overtime loss to Dominion Christian (Marietta, GA) in the opening round of the Garden City Classic at Augusta Preparatory Day School.  (See highlights below)

Austin Crown led the Eagles with 34 points in the loss.  Harrison Kristofak scored 22 points to lead the Dominion Christian second half comeback.  Dominion proceeded to defeat Augusta Prep in the tournament's semifinal game before falling to Westminster (Augusta, GA) in the championship game.

The Eagles recovered from the opening round defeat to win its next two tournament games versus Briarwood (Thomson, GA) and Curtis Baptist (Augusta, GA).  Augusta's Matt Miller received All Tournament honors after scoring 26 points versus Curtis Baptist in the final tournament game.

The Eagles extended the winning streak to 3 games with one of the most impressive performances of the team's season in an away game versus McCormick High School on December 5.  The Eagles were led in scoring by Matt Miller (29), Austin Crown (20), and Dominic Brown (12).  The 69-52 victory established a 7-2 Augusta record.  See highlights from the McCormick/Eagles game below.

Following the McCormick win, the Eagles recorded victories against private school teams Alleluia; St Andrews (Savannah, GA); Lake Pointe (SC); and Curtis Baptist and the homeschool Lowcountry Wildcats (Charleston, SC) and Providence Panthers (Columbia, SC), extending the winning streak to nine before Heathwood Hall snapped it.

In the Highlanders' 73-59 January 7 defeat of the Eagles, Joseph James led the way with 38 points, 28 coming in the first half.  James is ranked by ESPN as the 9th best senior basketball player in the state of South Carolina, and he leads a strong team with a history of impressive accomplishments.  Matt Miller led the Eagles with 28 points, including 18 in the first half, and Austin Crown added 18.  The Highlanders expanded its 44-43 halftime lead to 56-48 at the end of three quarters, before sealing the victory with good shooting, intelligent play, and stingy defense.