Summerville boys pull away from South Florence, 73-59, in Class AAA playoff opener

SUMMERVILLE — Summerville outscored South Florence, 23-7, in the final period Wednesday to earn a 73-59 win in the first round of the Class AAAA boys basketball playoffs.

The Green Wave (20-5), which got a career-high 31 points from John Jenkins, will next host Ridgeview, a two-point winner over Lexington, in the second round Saturday.

The Bruins (9-14) were eliminated with the loss.

“I went to see South Florence Friday night and I thought they were dangerous and could beat us,” Summerville coach Greg Elliott said. “I told our kids they are the best nine-win team we will see. They were super tough, but John Jenkins had a monster game and we did a good job closing it out with free throws at the end.

“We are excited to win a playoff game because I think the first one is always the toughest, but we have another tough one here Saturday.”

Summerville led 36-35 at the half, but a trio of 3-point baskets in the third period from South Florence’s Dawiyd Floyd helped lift the Bruins to a 52-50 lead entering the final period.

Jenkins, a junior, set the tone for the rest of the game by sinking a 3 from the corner off the glass to return the lead to Summerville.

The Bruins only trailed by 3 with 2:25 remaining but then the Green Wave broke the game open with some fastbreak points and solid free-throw shooting.

Senior Brandon Wilkerson added 17 points for Summerville and junior Christian Kalacanic finished with 12.

Michael Ellis and Fabian Jefferson both scored 14 points to lead the Bruins.

Summerville (73): John Jenkins 31, Brandon Wilkerson 17, Christian Kalacanic 12, Bellinger 4, Singleton 7, McKinnon 2

South Florence (59): Michael Ellis 14, Fabian Jefferson 14, Joshua Johnson 13, Daviyd Floyd 12, James 2, Legette 2, Robinson 2

Summerville 15 21 14 23—73

South Florence 13 22 17 7—59

Records: Summerville 20-5, South Florence 9-14. Next: Summerville hosts Ridgeview on Saturday.