Kingstree, SC – The Atlantic Collegiate Academy Armada continue to establish program milestones, and Tuesday night's dominant performance against Kingstree High was no different.
 
Senior Jamie Brooks became the first player in the two-year history of ACA basketball to score 1,000 career points in leading the Armada to a 75-38 victory. The win for the top ranked team in Class AA secured ACA's first region title in SCHSL play and secures home court advantage through at least three rounds in the upcoming playoffs.
 
"Our players came out with a focused mindset to execute and defend, and we did that for most of the game," ACA coach Tanner Massey said. "There were moments in the first half where we could have been better, but we really turned it up in the third quarter. It was a solid performance, but still a lot to improve upon."
 
It was Brooks who was the driving force for ACA in the game. Not only did the senior surpass 1,000 points for his career, he also scored a career-high 24 points in leading the Armada to the victory. He added 11 rebounds for good measure. The standout senior is averaging 14.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game this year.
 
In addition to Brooks, senior Justin Bellamy added 10 points and had seven rebounds in the game. Mal'aki Matthews was the only player to reach double figures for Kingstree (5-20, 1-10), finishing with 11 points.
 
The Armada improved to 18-3 overall on the season to go with a 10-1 mark in region play. With a nine-game win streak going into the regular season finale on Thursday, the focus will be on cleaning up mistakes for the upcoming playoffs and sending the seniors out in style on Senior Night. There will also be the little matter of avenging their only region loss of the season, which came against Mullins back on December 13, a 66-64 overtime defeat.
 
"Mullins is one of the best teams in the state, and that has been the case all season," Massey said. "They have dynamic guards and collectively they play very hard. This will be one of our biggest tests of the season, and a great tune-up for the playoffs."
 
The game against Mullins was originally scheduled to be played on January 21, but was postponed due to winter weather.
 
The ACA girls' varsity team was not able to keep the momentum of two consecutive victories going, falling to Kingstree 51-34 after having beaten the Blazers in the first meeting back on January 17.
 
"We didn't play out A game, and we needed to play our best on the road against a strong team," ACA coach Bill Zatulskis said.
 
After playing an even opening quarter, Kingstree took advantage of sluggish offensive play from the Armada to build a 24-16 halftime lead. ACA scored just four points in the second quarter.
 
The Armada tried to make up ground in the third quarter but couldn't keep the Blazers away from the basket and trailed by six, 37-31, going into the final quarter. That final period was all Kingstree as the Blazers pulled away by outscoring ACA 14-3 in the quarter.
 
Sophomore guard Zaniya Blackmon was the only member of the Armada to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with 10 points. Junior Micah Davis had eight points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Armada fell to 8-12 overall and 6-5 in region play.
 
Kingstree (19-5, 7-4) was led by the duo of sophomore Naydia Shaw and junior Demia Mosley, who scored 20 and 16 points respectively in the game.
 
ACA can still finish in a tie with Kingstree in the region standings with a victory over Mullins on Thursday combined with a Blazers loss to unbeaten Lake City. Either way, both teams will advance to the SCHSL playoffs and face a hard stretch of road games to advance in that tournament.
 
In the opening game on Tuesday, the ACA junior varsity boys' team improved to 14-1 on the year with a 50-32 victory over Kingstree. Sophomore guard Rock Govan got the Armada off to a fast start, hitting five three-pointers in the opening quarter of the victory.
 
All three ACA squads will close regular season play on Thursday night at the Flight Deck against Mullins. Game time for the JV boys is at 5 p.m. with the varsity girls to follow at 6:15 p.m. and the varsity boys to close out the night starting at 7:30.
 
In addition to the basketball, ACA will hold a Parent Forum for potential future students and parents beginning at 5:30 p.m.
 
About Atlantic Collegiate Academy: Atlantic Collegiate Academy (ACA), located in Conway, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while also earning up to two years of college credit. ACA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades. Learn more about ACA by visiting our website at AtlanticCollegiate.Academy and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and X.