SUMTER — For as long as she could remember, Skylar Smith was waiting for her shot. With 30 seconds left in the state championship game, she got it.
And now she’s the stuff of legend at Hilton Head Christian Academy.
Smith’s clutch 3-pointer gave the Eagles the lead for good in an emotional 53-51 win over Spartanburg Christian Academy on Saturday at the Sumter Civic Center, clinching the Eagles’ second straight title and foreshadowing a strong chance to do it again in 2021.
Countless kids have dreamt of hitting a shot to win a championship. Few ever realize it. Skylar Smith joined the select few Saturday afternoon.
“I always dreamed of shooting a game winning 3,” Smith said. “During that possession I was just thinking to myself that this was my moment. And that’s what I did.”
Smith began her basketball career in sixth grade, and like many sixth-graders it was a casual pastime. But as she started to enjoy the game more, it quickly became something that she wanted to excel at and continue to stick with throughout the years to come.
The shot was honed over the years, but was really strengthened this past summer before her sophomore season. With the help of private coaches, she worked every day in the gym and was centered on basketball nearly every moment.
“I didn’t have a summer vacation. It was all basketball camps, all AAU practices and games working harder in the gym,” Smith said. “I just kept pushing myself to work harder. I found teammates that I loved and developed a passion for basketball.”
Even with all of this training, Smith’s shot needed a bit more polish. The majority of sports is mental, and you can’t be successful, let alone shoot an important 3 in a high-stakes game, without having the mental part of your game in a sound position.
“I used to be scared to shoot 3s,” Smith recalled. “It was rare that I ever shot a 3 during a game. But I thought to myself over the summer that if I’m going to succeed and keep playing I’m going to have to progress my game somehow, so every day I would shoot 3s and work harder and harder to get it there.”
This season, Smith was a go-to option from the 3-point line for Kenny Conroy’s squad and became quite the important fixture in the perimeter offense. Her massive trey against Oakbrook Prep in the state semifinal gave her Eagles a one-point lead at halftime, handing over the momentum to their side which led to the team’s second-half surge.
In the state title game Saturday against Spartanburg Christian, she walked into more adversity. Smith quickly found herself in foul trouble, but was able to overcome her emotions.
“I felt upset, but I knew our team would keep pushing and others would come in and work even harder,” Smith said. “Coach kept telling me to play my game and to keep doing what I do best.”
Her performance in the biggest stage of her high school career just goes to show what a little practice and confidence can do in the game of basketball.
Skylar was not the only unlikely hero of this Eagle season. In fact, there was no guarantee that this team would get to the state title game if not for eighth-grader Molly Smith.
Before the season started in October, Molly fell sick to what may have appeared to be Lyme disease. The physicians did not think she would play at all this season. She was diagnosed with a bacterial virus that was unable to be fought off by her immune system. But she still attended every practice and every game. Smith continued to stay on the sidelines for what would seem to be the remainder of the season, until she was cleared to play in mid-February. After a few practices, she checked into a game for the first time, and despite a few expected hiccups, she was contributing all around the court.
After putting up six points in the first round of the state tournament, she saved her breakout game for an even bigger occasion. In the semifinal round against a tough Oakbrook Prep squad, Molly came off the bench and gave an immediate lift to the Eagles with an eight-point performance. The new hero knocked down a corner jumper after faking out a defender and drilled a deep 3 to extend the HHCA lead while playing some tough defense to hold it down. Without the contributions by Molly Smith in those moments, who knows if this team is still celebrating a state championship right now.
So yes, Brielle McCarthy, Jasmine Campbell, and Dior Shelton may have been the three main drivers of this team, but talking about this year’s edition of the state champion Eagles would be incomplete without the contributions, work ethic, and never quit attitudes of Skylar Smith, Molly Smith, and every other player on that squad.
This team is here to stay, and this dynasty is just beginning.
“I don’t want them to get complacent,” Conroy said. “We’re going to play the same kind of schedule we played this year, playing all the powerhouses, and that’s going to make us better for our region. And we’re going to win our region like we always do, and then come up here and do the same thing over again.”
Story by Wes Kerr / Photos by Justin Jarrett
