NORTH AUGUSTA — It’s ring season for the North Augusta boys’ basketball team.
And it’s been a long time coming.
Four months after the team’s first state championship in school history, they finally received their rings July 29.
While many teams in North Augusta’s history have come close, this group was truly special because of their motivation to bring the trophy home.
“This group, their will to win, determination, like Pastor Steve said, their competitive nature,” head coach Tony Harrell said. “We weren’t going to lose the state championship. Our seniors were not going to allow it to happen. But their will to win was greater than the other teams.”
It was a season full of trials and tribulations that ended with a hard-fought triumph in Columbia. After a double-overtime thriller against South Pointe, the Jackets won the game 64-56 on March 7.
Leading up to the title game, they fought through a rematch against region 4-AAAA champs Gray Collegiate Academy in the quarterfinals and Bluffton in the semis, both of which they won in commanding fashion.
Harrell said it was every playoff loss in the past that led to this moment for the team, from the second-round exit in 2024 to their loss in the final against Lancaster in 2025.
“Just a proud dad knowing that the hard work that they have put in, not only this year but the many years that they’ve been a part of our program,” he said. “The blood, the sweat, the tears that we’ve had together when we lost a state championship made everything that we went through worth it.”
Off the court, the challenges weren’t any easier. Following the opening round of the playoffs, former player Cam’Ron Hallingquest, who was a dedicated supporter of his former team, was killed in Augusta at just 19 years old.
While processing the loss of a friend and a teammate, North Augusta became unstoppable on the court. From that point on, the players weren’t just playing for themselves; they were playing for him.