[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video _builder_version=”3.20.1″ src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/u67e4-TW86A” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
Professional basketball teams can spend years trying to build a starting lineup of complete players – players that can all pass, handle and score the ball at a high level. Coach Zach Norris did it at Keenan High School.<\/p>\n
On paper this should be an ideal situation, but having so much talent in a squad can cause heads to butt.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we were all in it for one goal and I had to remind them of that. That one goal was to win a state championship, in order to get there you can\u2019t be selfish. You have to share the ball,\u201d Norris said.<\/p>\n
Norris took things to another level as he brought emphasis to the spiritual growth of the team as well as the primary goal of winning basketball games. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just sat down and had a talk, a serious talk. That look in the mirror,\u201d Norris said.<\/p>\n
Norris has led teams to five state championships in seven appearances during his 20-year hall of fame career. This could be his best team ever.<\/p>\n
The Richland One team\u2019s lone\u00a0loss this season came in mid-December at the Chick-Fil-A Classic versus the Dorman Cavaliers, who have won three back-to-back state championships. The team viewed that loss as a wake-up call and\u00a0began to lose their high.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really think we clicked after the Dorman game. After we saw that we lost, we came back and worked harder than we did before,\u201d said senior guard Asanti Price.<\/p>\n
Following the loss, the Raiders humbled themselves and were in familiar territory at Colonial Life Arena to take on the Ridgeland-Hardeeville Jaguars in the 3A state championship, winning by a score of 70-40.<\/p>\n
Norris had a perfect game plan to pound the paint, as the Raiders were a bigger team than the Jaguars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe going to have to pound that thing inside in order to come on top today,\u201d Norris said<\/span>.<\/p>\n In the first half, the Raiders struggled to follow the game plan and went into half time down one with a score of 20-19. \u00a0<\/p>\n At the half, Norris let his boys have it.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything got to be crisp! You can\u2019t be out there walking thinking you the best in the world and you ain’t gone execute,\u201d Norris said<\/span>.<\/p>\n Following the lecture given at halftime, the Raiders came out firing on all cylinders. They were led by Senior Asanti Price, who was held scoreless in the first half but finished with 22 points, and\u00a0went\u00a02-2 from the three. Price is currently committed to play at Georgia Tech in the fall.<\/p>\n The team was also led by junior forward Dillon Jones, who had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.<\/p>\n Jones has nine college offers including one from the Gamecocks. He believes that playing in\u00a0his hometown would be an amazing feeling.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing that it\u2019s my city, playing for the hometown, not a lot of people get to do it. So I think it\u2019ll be a once in a lifetime thing, if it does happen,\u201d Jones said<\/span>.<\/p>\n The starting\u00a0lineup alone has a total of 50 plus offers from schools all across the country.\u00a0Jones\u00a0won\u2019t make that decision until his senior season.<\/p>\n With this championship win, Norris\u00a0has led the Raiders\u00a0to six\u00a0state championships. Keenan has won eight total championships, tying the program for third in state history.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Keenan-Raider-Basketball-1.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n The painted image of the school mascot “Raiders,” inside the Raiders Cove, gives the basketball team a feeling of school spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Team-Photoshoot-1.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n The basketball team is ecstatic for the season as they have a photoshoot with a local photographer from Greenview Sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Coach-Norris-Midgame-1.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Head Coach Zach Norris is dialed in and focused on the sideline as the Raiders are taking on Ridgeland-Hardeeville in the 3A state championship game.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Coach Norris\u00a0has led the Raiders\u00a0to six\u00a0state championships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":20431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[39,63,38,69,40],"tags":[660,590,99,108],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18892"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21588,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18892\/revisions\/21588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}