Newberry Boys Basketball Advances to Region Finals

NEWBERRY — The Newberry Panthers historical season is still in full effect. 

The two-seeded Panthers routed three seed Episcopal School of Jacksonville in the Class 3A Region 1 semifinal, 77-49, on Saturday. The Panthers will now play in the regional final at 7 p.m. Saturday at top seed Jacksonville Andrew Jackson (27-1). The winner then advances to the state final four March 9 in Jacksonville.

Newberry (21-3) found itself up by one at the end of the first quarter after ESJ guard Hays Jackson hit a halfcourt buzzer-beater. 

Senior guard Juwan Scippio led the game in scoring at half with 12 points to help Newberry take a 34-25 lead at intermission.

The Panthers came out of half firing on all cylinders against ESJ (22-8) and ended the third quarter up 54-40 after back-to-back Henry Mathias 3s. 

NHS went on a 8-1 run to begin the fourth and never looked back. Newberry finished the game in style with back-to-back fast-break dunks by La’Harry Debose and Brandon Kelley. 

Mathias finished with 20 points and senior guard Kai Washington added 17. 

Newberry coach Patrick Green was named District 7-3A coach of the year entering the game.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized in any fashion,” Green said. 

Green has been the coach at Newberry since the 2019-20 season. During his tenure, the Panthers have not made it to the regional finals. They are fresh off winning back-to-back district titles for the first time in program history.

Scippio remembers losing in the regional semifinals last year and said it feels great to advance after the team worked hard to improve this season.

“They [Andrew Jackson] are one of the top teams not only in the state, but in the country,” Green said. “We will be focused.”

2026 FHSAA Boys Basketball State Championship Tournament Class 3A

Category: Basketball, High School Sports, Newberry High School