Saints halt Devils' postseason run

The Great Falls basketball teams’ seasons ended on a sour note, a game shy of coveted Class A Upper State title tilts at Clemson on Saturday.Calhoun County rolled to a 69-49 win over the Great Falls boys on Wednesday night at Richland Northeast High School.The Saints’ 20-point win sends them to the Class A Upstate championship game for the third straight season. Calhoun County, which has won 76 straight games, is the two-time defending Class A state champion.The Saints, 27-0, appear to be in line for a third straight title after downing the Red Devils.Great Falls, which finished 23-4, battled the Saints, but Calhoun County was just too strong.The Red Devils trailed only 27-21 at the break, but the Saints used a 17-8 third-period run to gain control of the game.During the pivotal third quarter, Great Falls’ top scorer Jeremy Simpson fouled out and was held to four points. The Saints took advantage of Simpson’s absence and forged a 27-point lead on the way to the victory.Elisten Buchanan paced the Red Devils, who won the Conference III-A title, hitting 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Desmar Anderson scored 12 points, all in the second half. Leroy Roseboro netted nine points.The Saints were led by Shamier Jeffery who scored 21 points. Alshyone Jeffery added 11 points. Donte Rumph and David Glover each had eight points for CCHS.With the S.C. High School League’s new realignment, which begins with the start of the 2008-09 school term, Calhoun County is moving to the Lower State.On Saturday, Calhoun County meets Dixie for the Class A Upstate boys’ crown at 1 p.m.n On Tuesday night, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler edged the Great Falls’ Lady Red Devils 65-64 to end the GFHS girls’ season.The Lady Red Devils held a 20-point lead at one point, but HKT rallied behind the play of Shalika Smalls, who hit 46 points, 28 in the second half. She netted five treys in the victory.Smalls, with the clock winding down, hit a bank shot just before the buzzer to lift HKT, 22-5, to the one-point win.Great Falls, which finished 14-11, led 36-23 at the break, but HKT rallied with a 23-14 run in the third period to make it 50-46.The Lady Red Devils were led by Shardae Lynn’s 25 points. Sasha Hopson hit 18 and Nadre Lynn scored 12.On Saturday, the HKT meets Christ Church of Greenville for the Class A Upstate girls basketball crown at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum at 11 a.m.