There’s no quit in the Armada.
And in Saturday’s Class 2A Lower State title matchup, Atlantic Collegiate let that be known yet again on a statewide stage.
ACA knocked off Timberland, 52-43, to earn a spot in next week’s South Carolina High School League Class 2A finals. The Armada overcame a double-digit deficit in the first half and clawed their way back, establishing dominance on both sides of the court to punch their ticket to the finals.
“I don’t really have the words,” said ACA head coach Jordin Anderson. “These girls have worked so hard all year long, all season long. We’ve been working to get here… I have so many different feelings, I couldn’t describe just one. But if I had to choose one, it would be grateful. I’m grateful to be here and I’m grateful to work with these young ladies every day. We’ve got one more to go.”
Atlantic Collegiate’s Erin Williams finished a layup against Timberland in the Lower State Finals in Florence on Feb. 28, 2026.
At the start, it didn’t appear ACA was going to be able to do quite enough to advance.
Timberland opened up the game with a lightning-fast pace that included plenty of shots falling in their favor. They opened up a double-digit lead over the Armada, leading at once by as many as 11 points.
Down by eight points after the first quarter, Anderson gathered her group in to take a deep breath.
“We went into our huddle after the first quarter, and we could tell those nerves were still there,” the coach said. “Everybody was nervous, including myself. But they finally went out, locked in and let the nerves go. They let it flow for us.”
Whatever was said in that huddle seemed to work, and the Armada was able to flip the script and put together an entirely different game in the play that followed. From the start of the second quarter, it was all ACA.
Atlantic Collegiate’s Micah Davis drives to the basket against Timberland in the Lower State Finals in Florence on Feb. 28, 2026.
Sophomore Daje Capers added a pair of key three-pointers that helped shift the momentum in the Armada’s direction, tying the game up at 27 at halftime.
“We started communicating,” Capers said of the second-quarter mentality shift. “We had to work to keep our heads up. And we knew we had to communicate, because we wanted it really bad.”
