The Dillon Wildcats earned a 70-38 win over Andrews in the first round of the Class 2A boys basketball playoffs, but fell 73-51 to Ridgeland-Hardeeville in round two on Saturday at Ridgeland.

Dillon opened the lower state playoffs on Wednesday night, hosting the Andrews Yellow Jackets for a 70-38 win.

Click here to see videos from the Andrews at Dillon game!

Dillon took a 15-9 lead in the first period, and both teams added 18 points in the second to leave Dillon ahead 33-27. The Wildcats returned to the court to dominate the second half, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 37-11 to seal the win.

Dillon was led by JaQuan Knowlin with a game-high 16 points and Eri’Reon Hayes with 13. Joe Manning added 11 points in the win; Lawrence Crouch, 10; Gerome McLeod, 6; Que Bethea, 5; Omar McCollum, 4; Aaron McCollum, 4; and RaKeem Fletcher, 2.

Andrews was led by Wanye Moore with 14 points. Wright scored 6; Johnathan Grant, 5; Flagler, 3; Lewis, 2; Johnson, 2; Jamil Middleton, 2; Raekwon Acosta, 2; and Steel, 2.

Dillon improved to 15-9 while Andrews finished the season with a 12-12 record.

Other first round games on Wednesday saw Batter Creek defeat Wade Hampton 75-70; Lee Central defeated Waccamaw 73-66; Timberland knocked off Aynor 45-34; Garrett defeated Woodland 75-60; and Whale Branch eliminated Edisto 75-33.

The biggest upset of the night saw Region 7’s fourth-seed Kingstree defeat Region 8 champ Mullins 89-87 in Mullins. Kingstree’s Dyshane Murphy scored 53 points in the win, and Jalek Felton led Mullins with 30 points in the effort. Mullins finished the season at 16-9.

On Friday night, the Wildcats were on the road to face the Ridgeland-Hardeeville Jaguars, who defeated North Charleston 80-47 in the first round.

The Jaguars got off to a 17-15 start and Dillon fell further behind as Ridgeland outscored the Wildcats 21-10 and 11-7 in the second and third quarters. The Jaguars finished off the Wildcats with a 27-16 fourth period for a 76-48 win.

The Wildcats were led by JaQuan Knowlin with 12 points in the effort. Eri’Reon Hayes added 9; Joe Manning, 6; RaKeem Fletcher, 6; Omar McCollum, 5; Gerome McLeod, 5; Lawrence Crouch, 5; Que Bethea, 3; and C.J. Sowells, 1.

Kevon Williams led the Jaguars with a game-high 26 points with four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. D. Robinson added 12 points with 13 rebounds. Nazair Wilson scored nine points; Gaylus Bailey, 9; Trenard Ferrell, 7; Ransom Dunham, 6; Walter Nathan, 4; J. Jackson, 3; and Bryan Wright, 2. Ferrell also grabbed 11 rebounds in the win.

Dillon finishes the season with a 12-10 record, while Ridgeland-Hardeeville improves to 24-2 overall.

The Jaguars advanced to the lower state semi-finals and are scheduled to host Battery Creek on Wednesday, February 25. Battery Creek defeated Lee Central 64-60 in round two.

Timberland defeated Garrett 64-61 on Saturday to advance, and will host Whale Branch on Wednesday. The Whale Branch Warriors defeated Kingstree 83-74 in the second round.

The winners of Wednesday’s games will advance to the Lower State Championship on Saturday at the Florence Civic Center at 4:30 p.m.

In the upper state, Strom Thurmond advanced to the semi-finals to host Andrew Jackson, and Keenan advanced and will host Chesnee, with Wednesday’s winners advancing to the Upper State Championship on Saturday.

Photos by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD. Click the images below to view at full size!