Tony McLean plays defense versus Laurens Academy.
Cassie Waites | For The Newberry Observer
NEWBERRY — Daja Taylor scored 16 points and added 8 assists to lead the Newberry Academy girls to a 56-31 victory over St. John’s Christian Academy Monday in the SCISA Class A state quarterfinals in Sumter.
The Eagles will play in the state semifinals versus Cathedral Academy of Charleston on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Sumter at Wilson Hall. This is the first time the Eagle girls have played in the state semifinals since 2014. The Academy hopes to advance to Friday’s state championship, which the Eagles last played for in 2006.
After taking a 14-7 first quarter lead, the Eagles stretched that to a 27-14 halftime lead and then used a big third quarter to pull away. For the Eagles, in addition to Taylor’s 16, Kailey Cheeks scored 12 points, London Huggins 10, Madison Rivers 6, Caroline Senn 6, Allison Joyner 4 and Bethany Sawyer 2.
The Eagle girls defeated South Aiken Baptist 78-21 Friday in the first round of the playoffs in Newberry.
The Newberry Academy boys defeated Dorchester Academy 72-48 Saturday in Columbia. Payton Gardner scored 28 points, Tony McLean 21, Ryan Brown 18, Ben Lindsay 4 and William Buford 1. The Eagles played Holly Hill Tuesday in the state quarterfinals.
The Eagles racked up multiple region awards with Daja Taylor and Payton Gardner each named Region Player of the Year. Named all region for the Eagle girls were Kailey Cheeks, Madison Rivers and Caroline Senn and for the Eagle boys Tony McLean.