Denmark-Olar boys win first ever state basketball title

FLORENCE, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - It is A game that Denmark-Olar’s boys team has waited 35 years to try and reach again.

The Denmark-Olar boys’ basketball team won the SCHSL 1A State Championship on Thursday.

The Vikings faced Abbeville – a team that only two others managed to knock off this season.

Terrence Hinton and Joshua Goodman looking to be the third.

Joshua Goodman in white, led the way in scoring, and the Vikings led by eight with eight minutes left.

A few mental mistakes in the final minute gave the Panthers life, but a team of 10 seniors would not be denied their chance at history.

“We just gotta play through it, and that’s what they did,” said Head Coach Hercules Davis. “They played through the mistakes, and we just came out with a victory.”

There’s a first time for everything, and Thursday was finally the time for Denmark-Olar.

The Vikings win the school’s first ever boys state championship trophy, 56-52 over Abbeville.

Davis was overwhelmed and grateful that his hard work had finally paid off.

“Thanks and honor to God for giving me the strength to coach for 26 years,” said Davis. “These young men wanted this game so bad from day one of practice. They said they were going to do it, and here we are. We took it away.”

Davis leaves the Florence Center with the best retirement gift a 26-year tenured coach could ask for, but he says it’s not the end of his ion for the game.

“I’m going to be doing some training, but I gotta stick around basketball because this is my ion,” said Davis. “So, coaching on the sidelines, but training and stuff like that is what I’ll be doing.”.

Also on Thursday, Butler High School’s boys’ basketball team defeated Union County for the GHSA Class AA State Championship for the first time in 59 years.

Butler brought home the win with 57 to Union County’s 49

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