First-time feeling! Atlantic Collegiate boys basketball wins SC championship
As the seconds ticked down in the final quarter of Saturday’s Class 2A championship game, Tanner Massey did a little reflecting.
Many moments and memories from the past year were going through the Atlantic Collegiate boys basketball coach’s head as the Armada defeated High Point Academy, 58-52, to win the 2A title at the Florence Center.
The title comes in the second year of the public charter school located in Conway. Atlantic Collegiate wasn’t eligible for the playoffs last year because of South Carolina High School League rules for first-year schools.
Massey wasn’t a part of the inaugural season that went 20-2 last season. He was announced as new coach in August and replaced Jason Harris, who left to take a college job with the East Carolina women’s basketball team.
Massey, a Carolina Forest High and Coastal Carolina University grad, had plenty of basketball experience with stops in college and in the NBA G-League.
“Going back for that brief moment and revisiting in my mind — the game day practices, our first team meeting, the weight room sessions just flashed back,” Massey said. “Our guys put in so much effort, time and sacrifice. This is all them and credit to our players.”
The championship ends the title drought for Horry County’s SCHSL boys teams. Myrtle Beach High was the last to do it, winning the 3A championship over Greenville in 2007.
Jaylen Bellamy scored 20 points as Atlantic Collegiate built up a big lead in the first half and survived a couple of rallies by the Grizzlies.
Big man Jamie Brooks added 14 points, four rebounds and blocked three shots for the Armada.
Bellamy and Brooks combined for nine of the 12 points in Atlantic’s 12-0 run over the final 5:11 of the second quarter to lead 32-21.
High Point answered back to start the third with an 8-0 run as Travis Morman hit a pair of 3-pointers to close the deficit to 32-29 with 5:59 left in the quarter. That’s when Massey called a timeout to settle his team down and make a couple tweaks to the team’s lineup.
Justin Bellamy, the team’s defensive stopper, was inserted in the game when Massey said the team lost its defensive identity.
“We knew we couldn’t lay back after the first half and they were going to get a run,” Jaylen Bellamy said. “Coach just told us to play hard and keep going.”
Atlantic responded with a Jaylen Bellamy layup and CJ Hemingway 3-pointer to lead 37-29. The Armada’s lead was trimmed to 46-42 with just over two minutes left, but they hit the free throws down the stretch, something the Grizzlies struggled with in the game.
High Point was 13 of 26 from the free-throw line.
Morman led High Point with 16 points.
HP: Sanders 6, Chonci Miller 10, Travis Morman 16, Jaden McNeil 11, Jones 1, Copeland 8. AC: Hemingway 9, Jamie Brooks 14, Daniels 3, Justin Bellamy 5, Lee 7.
This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM.
