The Hillcrest-Evergreen boys will get another shot at perennial power Midfield in the final four on Friday.

This time, it will be for the state championship.

Trey Simpson scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half as the ninth-ranked Jaguars pulled away in the second half to beat No. 5 Geraldine 62-49 in the Class 3A semifinals at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.

Hillcrest (27-3) will play No. 4 Midfield at 2:15 p.m. Friday for the state title. The Patriots advanced with a 64-61 win over No. 1 Sumter Central earlier Tuesday. Hillcrest and Midfield played in the semifinals a year ago with the Patriots winning 67-50.

“We’ve got a great group of guys,” Hillcrest coach Tereance Pinkney said. “I’m so proud. We made a choice last year that we would be back here after we lost to Midfield. We’ve been true to our word. We just have to finish it off now.”

The Jaguars led Geraldine 27-20 at the half. The Bulldogs (24-8) pulled to within 27-25 on Connor Johnson’s 3 in the early minutes of the third quarter. The Jaguars slowly pulled away from there. They led 41-33 entering the fourth and built the lead to as many as 16 down the stretch behind the play of the 6-foot-7 Simpson.

“Coming into the first half, I wasn’t warming up hard,” Simpson said. “When you don’t warm up hard, you don’t play hard. I came out in the second half and knew my team needed me, so I had to play extra hard.”

Simpson was 6-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He also had 11 rebounds, 5 blocked shots and 4 steals.

“You kind of have to pick your poison with them,” Geraldine coach Jeremy Smith said. “What are you going to allow? Athletic wise, we really have to work to match their athleticism. He (Simpson) didn’t hurt us so much in the first half, so we stuck with what we had, and they obviously went to him more in the second half.”

Pinkney said he also swiped a bit of Geraldine’s defensive strategy, opting to focus more defensively on Johnson in the second half.

“We thought he was the key,” Pinkney said. “In the first half, they tried to play a box-and-1 on Trey. They also tried to play a box-and-1 on Jermonte (Stallworth). At halftime, we decided to go to a box on Johnson. We put JT Barlow on him. He’s a defensive back on the football team, and he did a great job staying in front of him.”

Johnson finished with 13 points but was just 4-of-14 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3-point range.

Star of the game: Simpson took control in the second half.

Depth issues: Seven Jaguars played at least 15 minutes in the game, while all five of Geraldine’s starters played at least 25 minutes.

“I was criticized a little after the Cottage Hill game (South Regional final) about playing five guys in and five out,” Pinkney said. “I really thought that was our key. We wear people down. Today, in the second half, I told the guys that we were probably going to go to 7 or 8 guys playing most of the way, and it worked in our favor.”

Stat sheet: Hillcrest-Evergreen – Jermonte Stallworth finished with 16 points and 6 assists. Jordan Bonner scored 13. Javonte Fore finished with 8 points. Geraldine – Jaxon Colvin led the way with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Redick Smith scored 10 points.

By the numbers: Hillcrest was 22-of-53 from the field (41.5 percent), 6-of-18 from 3 (33.3 percent) and 12-of-22 from the foul line. Geraldine was 17-of-47 from the field (36.2 percent), 8-of-27 from 3 (29.6 percent) and 7-of-12 from the foul line. The Jaguars outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-33 and forced 15 turnovers.

Did you know? Geraldine was trying to win its first state title since the 1930s.

They said it:

“Athleticism. All year we’ve talked about defense and rebounding and turnovers. We turned it over 15 times today, and they beat us on the boards. It’s going to be difficult for us to win when that happens.” – Smith on the difference in the game.

“I’m grateful and blessed to be here. I’m just so thankful. I told these guys a while ago that I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team. I’m proud to start and finish my career as a Geraldine Bulldog. I’ll forever be a Geraldine Bulldog.” – Johnson.

Next up: The rematch with Midfield on Friday.

“Last year, we were kind of star struck being here,” Pinkney said. “Now that they’ve had a taste of it, I think they are ready to play. We lost to Jackson in early January. After that, they came together and bought in. We’ve won 13 or 14 games in a row, but it’s not going to be over until we hoist that blue trophy.”