Cam Alston's 15-point game for North Augusta High School helped boost the Yellow Jackets to a 59-50 comeback win against Aiken on Friday evening, helping improve his squad's status in the hunt for playoff standing in the final three weeks of the regular season.

The Jackets, coached by Al Young, improved their record to 13-4 overall and 4-4 in Region 5-AAAA action, erased a seven-point halftime deficit and improved their scoring output as the pace of the game increased. Following a more deliberate first half, both teams raced up and down the court as fast as they could, as often as they could in the second half.

Jessie Pernell scored a key bucket at the end of the third quarter, after collecting a rebound with three seconds left. He pushed the ball down the court at top speed and pulled up for a running, one-handed 3-pointer that touched nothing but net as time expired.

"That was a big shot," Young said, recalling the shot that put the Jackets ahead 41-37 and might have taken a little more wind out of the already-winded Hornets.

North Augusta cemented its lead with two quick baskets in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Alston nearly missed the game because of a scheduling conflict involving football recruitment in the area of Washington, D.C.

"He does a good job of penetrating, getting the ball inside," Young said of Alston, whose effort allowed opportunities to open up in the second half for teammate Devon Davis.

Earlier in the week, Young's squad played host to Dutch Fork and cruised to a 73-56 win, with Devon Davis' 24-point game leading the way. Austin Davis added 18, and Jaylon Myers popped in 16 more. Dutch Fork's leader was Dontae Shuler, scoring 16.

This week's action for Alston, Davis and their teammates was to have included a Tuesday game at White Knoll. The next home games will be Friday against Irmo and Tuesday against Orangeburg-Wilkinson.