Orangeburg-Wilkinson comes up short in 3A state championship game

AIKEN, S.C. — The Orangeburg-Wilkinson Bruins had no answer for the 3A player of the year Justin Bailey, as the Blue Ridge Tigers pulled away in the fourth quarter to win the SCHSL 3A state championship 49-42 at USC Aiken Friday night.

Fresh off an Upper State championship game in which he dropped 19 points in the fourth quarter to beat Keenan, Bailey put the Tigers on his back yet again in the state title game. He finished with a game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds to help Blue Ridge capture its first state championship in program history.

Orangeburg-Wilkinson had chances down the stretch, but couldn’t generate enough offense to close the gap with Blue Ridge. Horace Jaques led the Bruins with 15 points, and Jordan Simpson was the only other player in double figures with 10.