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Andrew Jackson Academy Warriors
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By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt — The Andrew Jackson Academy softball team (3-6, 0-5) under new head coach Richard Moore this season and with the team made up mainly of 8 th and 9 th grade travel ball players the future looks bright for the Lady Warriors. “I am fortunate to have Chad Johnson as my assistant coach and he had two former daughters who were very good softball players at Bamberg-Ehrhardt,” said Coach Moore. “He has a freshman daughter on the team ( Reeves Johnson ) who starts for us in center field. “Coach Johnson and I wanted to work the softball program at AJA because the majority of our younger players are very committed to the sport of softball and they play summer sport also,” said Coach Moore. “We just want to do what we can to help these girls reach their potential in the sport of softball.” Going into Spring break, AJA had three wins over Patrick Henry (13-5), Jefferson Davis Academy (4-2) and Holly Hill Academy (11-10). “Against Holy Hill Academy lead-off batter Carrigan Moore , the team’s starting catcher, hit a home run as did 8 th grader Mary Gray Hiers who bats in the 8 th slot and plays third base. Moore is currently batting .263 with one home run while Hiers has a key home run to her credit. Junior second baseman Sydney Crosby bats second in the order and she is currently batting .265 with one RBI. Freshman McKinley Beard , bats third in the order, and she is batting.294 with 9 stolen bases. Beard is also the team’s main pitcher and she has all three wins to her credit. To date she has pitched in 24.2 innings with 21 strike-outs. Junior Riley Rowe is the team’s clean-up batter and she starts in right field. Johnson, who has excellent speed in center field, bats 5 th in the order and she is batting .267 with one RBI. Talented 8 th grade shortstop Harlo Sease leads the team in batting, from the number six spot in the order, with a .375 average, including two RBI’s and two stolen bases. Sophomore Riley Privette bats 7 th in the order and starts at first base. Hiers is holding down the number 8 batting slot while starting at third base and junior left-fielder Sam Stevens is batting in the 9 slots. Key reserves on the team include: Sophomore CF Alex Johnson , 8 th grade back-up pitcher Mariah Hiott , 9 th grade RF Izzie Brandt , 9 th grade third baseman Braelyn Hall , sophomore first baseman CJ Ulmer and junior RF Kaydence Clementson . “The hardest part of our schedule we’ve already played,” said Coach Moore. “We lost twice to both Clarendon Hall and Calhoun Academy earlier in the season. In our last two ball games we have really improved out hitting. We would like to finish strong over the second half of the season and make it into the playoffs. That would be really great if we could make the play-offs at the end of the season with such a young team. “We just hope the girls learn and get better with every practice and every game,” said Coach Moore. “We do not have any seniors on this team. We will have everybody back next season. We see great potential in our young team.” “We have been working very hard in practice at improving our hitting,” said Coach Moore. “We are also working very hard to develop some depth at pitching.” Coming out of Spring break AJA will have two region games at home against St. Johns Christian on April, 10, before playing at Patrick Henry on April, 12. Should they win both those games it would go a long way in helping the team secure a berth in the SCISA play-offs.
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt — Andrew Jackson Academy is fortunate to have a head baseball coach ( Jason Mathys ) who spent five seasons in the New York Yankees farm system, as a pitcher, after being a noted player on the Iowa State baseball team. Coach Mathys and his family was brought to the area by the Navy a few years ago, where he served as a dentist. His family also maintains a hay farm in the area. He is also very proud of his junior daughter Elena Mathys who is now attending the Governor’s School in Hartsville. She is allowed to play on the Hartsville varsity softball team where she is the ace pitcher with a 3-2 record, an ERA of 1.46 and she has 39 K’s in 38.1 innings pitched. Although the AJA baseball team is 0-11 coming into Spring break, Coach Mathy’s, is very confident about future success. “I over-see our “B” team, our junior varsity, and our varsity baseball teams and we have a lot of talent coming along in the 6 th though 8 th grades,” said Coach Mathys. “Our B team has only lost one game this season. The vast majority of our 7 th and 8 th graders are year-round baseball players. We have no seniors on the varsity team at all.” Coach Mathys is a straight-forward tell it like is type coach. “We have been competitive in about half of our varsity games, and in the other half we have not played up to our potential,” said Coach Mathys. “This team has really improved over-all over the team from last year.” One very bright spot for the Warriors has been the play and leadership of junior pitcher/third baseman Jack Walling . He leads the team in batting at .455 with six RBI’s and two doubles. He has also pitched 12 innings on the mound as well. “Jack Walling has really improved a lot over last season and I think it has a lot to do with his confidence level,” said Coach Mathys. “He is the leader of this team and he is playing with a lot of confidence and I am played of his commitment towards improvement.” The clean-up batter for the team is sophomore pitcher/utility player Walker Terry who is batting .292 with four RBI’s and two doubles. Junior center fielder Tim Williams bats in the second slot, and he is batting .260. Blayson Donehue starts at second base and he is currently batting .278 with two RBI’s and a double. Junior starting first baseman Landon Stanfield bats in the 5 th spot in the order. Junior Russell Kinsey is the starting catcher. Freshman Elias Mathys is a freshman starting in left field. Sophomore Hall Sease rotates starting at shortstop and third base when he is not on the mound. The tall righty has six strike-outs in 11 innings on the mound. Thomas Hutto is a junior starting in right field. Key reserves on the team include junior second baseman Hunter Zorn , sophomore designated hitter Colton Chavis , and sophomore first baseman Tanner Chassereau . Coach Mathys is assisted on the varsity by Kip Terry . Auston Richard and Kevin Kinard team up to coach the junior varsity. John Paul Jones , recently named the head varsity football coach at AJA, works with the B team baseball program.
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt — The Andrew Jackson Academy boys’ basketball team (18-17, 5-5) won five games in a row at the end of the season, including playoff wins over Lee Academy and Patrick Henry , before closing out the season with a loss against region foe Cathedral (70-40) in the semi-finals of the SCISA AA playoffs at Wilson Hall on February, 22. The Warriors had no seniors on the 2023-24 team and they should be ready to build on their success of the 2023-24 next year. “Cathedral’s 1-3-1 defense in the second half gave us a lot of trouble,” said head coach Josh Barnes after the season ending loss. “They will all be back and we will all be back next season because neither team had any seniors this season. “This season we came close to having all five of our starters average in double digits scoring and that is always a good thing,” said Coach Barnes. “Gage (Dicks) and Hayden (McClung) were our top two scorers and they are both juniors with promising futures.” Prior to the game with Cathedral, the Warriors played perhaps their best game of the season in a 75-62 win over Patrick Henry , one game after they had defeated Lee Academy 100-67. “At one point against Patrick Henry we were down 27 points and came back and won by 13 so that was a big win no doubt for us,” said Coach Barnes. “This was the biggest come behind win I’ve ever been involved in in all my years of coaching. “it was just a matter of us picking ourselves up off the floor and playing better,” said Coach Barnes. “Gage and Hayden were out top two scorers against Patrick Henry and Carter Brown had one of his better games with a double-double and carter hit the boards hard for us in that game. They had out-rebounded us in our games with them in the regular season and we challenged Carter to step up on the boards.” AJA had lost to Patrick Henry in over-time at home (four points) and by 11 points on the road, earlier in the season before they big 13- point win over them in the play-offs. “Patrick Henry has a very good squad and they are a very competitive group and I love the way their kids play hard and get after you. They are good athletes with a good mentality and I like that in them very much.” Right now, Coach Barnes said the focus is keeping everyone together and getting them to play summer ball together. “Hopefully, we can get ready for next season by working hard in the off-season and playing a lot basketball over the summer,” said Coach Barnes. Junior Gage Dicks is a 6-2 junior guard who shows up on a lot of prospects list around the state. Dicks averaged 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals a game. Junior Hayden McClung was a point guard who averaged 15.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.3 steals a game during the season. Next on the scoring index for the Warriors were freshman combo guard Ollie Barnes who averaged 11.6 pints, 2,8 rebounds and 1.6 assists a game. Junior forward inside man led the team in rebounding at 8.4 a game while averaging 9.2 points a game. Sophomore guard Hall Sease (6-2) averaged 8.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1,8 steals a game. According to Coach Barnes, McClung, Dicks and Barnes were all honorable mentioned all-region players. Reserve players freshman forward Eli Mathys averaged four points a game while freshman guard Colin Carter averaged two points a game. Other members of the team included junior forward Jacobe Best , freshman Elijah Davis , and freshman guard Alex Hiers along with sophomore forward Tres Mixson . McKinnley Beard, Bella Carrigg, & Rileigh Barnes Earn Honorable Mentioned All-Region Honors For Lady Warriors Basketball Team. The AJA lady Warriors (15-15, 5-5) basketball team earned a spot in the SCISA AA play-offs under the tutelage of head coach David Johnson during the 2023-24 season. The team concluded the season with a loss to Beaufort Academy in the first round of the play-offs on February, 16. The team was led in scoring by a pair of freshmen, Bella Carrigg (11.7 points and 3.1 steals) along with freshman forward McKinnley Beard (10.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, & 2,2 steals) and junior guard Rileigh Barnes (5.1 points & 2.3 steals) All three of the aforementioned were named honorable mentioned all-region players for the season. Eighth grade guard/wing Harlo Sease was a key contributor and she averaged 5.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.1 steals a game. Junior forward Ryleigh Trivette averaged 8.1 rebounds a game along with 2.1 points an outing. Other members of the team included senior Ali Polk who was a strong rebounder at 4.9 a game along with contributing 1.3 points. The only other senior on the team was forward Aliona Kinard . Key reserve Scarlett Mixson is an 8th grade shooting guard. Polk and Barnes served as team captains. After a win over St. Johns Christian (36-23) on the road in late January, Coach Johnson told the HSSR, “We have a young team comprised of mainly 8th and 9th graders and we are being patient and working hard at getting better with each practice and each game,” said Coach Johnson. “This is my third season and we have been making improvements each year.” Carrigg and Beard led the team in scoring with around 14 and 13 points per game respectively.
Dillon Christian, Riverpointe Christian advance with wins
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR Photos from the SCISA Basketball Tournament, from the Andrew Jackson Academy vs Patrick Henry Academy boys in their elimination basketball game on Tuesday. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR Photos from the SCISA Basketball Tournament, from the Beaufort Academy vs Marlboro Academy in their elimination basketball game on Saturday. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt — David Johnson is nearing the end of his third season as the head girls’ basketball coach at Andrew Jackson Academy (11-10, 3-2) and each season continues to build on the previous one. After his team’s 39-26 win at St. Johns Christian Academy on January, 25 Coach Johnson told the HSSR, “I have a young team and they have been really working hard and they are starting to turn the corner a little bit,” said Coach Johnson. “Tonight, freshman Bella Carigg came off the bench and led us in scoring with 13 points. “We have a lot of freshmen in our starting line-up and you just have to wait on them but as a team we are starting to turn the corner,” said Coach Johnson. “We have seven games left and four of them are region contests. Our goal is to win all our remaining region games and that could place us second behind Cathedral . “Right now, we are in third place in the region with Clarendon Hall in second place,” said Coach Johnson. “We need to finish strong and get a good seed for the playoffs.” Freshman power forward McKinley Beard (5-9) leads the team in scoring at 11.9 points a game including 5.9 rebounds. She also has 23 blocked shots on the season. Co-captain Rileigh Barnes is a junior point guard averaging 2.5 steals a game and she distributes the ball really well. The team’s other co-captain is senior power forward Alli Polk who is a good on-ball defender averaging 4.5 rebounds a game. Junior Ryleigh Trivette starts at one wing and she is averaging 5.5 rebounds a game. Harlo Sease , an 8 th grader, rounds out the starting group and she is a shooting guard averaging 5.5 points a game. Carrigg is a sometimes starter and she plays very well off the bench. She is averaging 11.6 points and 2.9 steals a game. The remaining players on the team include 8 th grade shooting guard Scarlett Mixon and senior power forward Aliona Kinard . “We are playing our best when we get into an up-tempo game that allows us to score baskets in transition,” said Coach Johnson. “We also like to press and score off of turnovers. We like to attack the basket also.” The Lady Warriors have two region games left against Dorchester Academy (Jan,26 and Feb., 9), one with Cathedral (Jan., 30) and Clarendon Hall (Feb., 5 th ). Some of AJA’s win this season have come over Holly Hill Academy , Jefferson Davis Academy , Faith Christian , Colleton Prep , HTCC and St. Johns Christian . Coach Johnson is assisted by his wife Vickey Johnson .
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt — The Andrew Jackson Academy boys’ basketball team lost hard-fought games against St. Johns Christian (74-65) and Dorchester Academy (62-61) on consecutive nights in late January and now the team hopes to regroup as they host region leading Cathedral Academy on January, 30. AJA (12-13, 3-3) overcame a 17-point deficit at the half against St. Johns Christiaan and only trailed 66-63 with 1:22 left in the game. After the St. Johns Christian game head coach Josh Barnes told the HSSR, “We need to play more as a team and in crunch time we need to the simple things right,” he said. “We need to play better on defense and quit letting players slip inside our defense and make what I call crab buckets. “We had several baskets scored on us at the end of the game that were inexcusable due to a lack of focus by our defense,” said Coach Barnes. “We have enough time to work on our issues we need to correct. You hope that things are going better and then you get in a close game like we were in tonight and we let the game slip away by not playing better defense, and not being as fundamentally sound as we should be. “Our players are working hard, don’t get me wrong,” said Coach Barnes. “We are a much better team than we showed tonight against St. Johns Christian .” Currently junior shooting guard Gage Dicks is leading the Warriors in scoring at 18.3 points a game including 8.1 rebounds. Junior guard/forward Carter Brown is averaging 8.9 points an outing. Hayden McClung is averaging 15.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 3.1 steals a game. Ollie Barnes , an excellent three-point shooter, is averaging 11.2 points a game. Sophomore guard Hall Sease is averaging 8.2 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. The team consists of seven players with freshman Elijah Davis and junior forward Jacobe Best key reserves. “If we play sound team basketball like we did both times against Calhoun Academy we have our best chance to win,” said Coach Barnes. “If we are playing better and winning games at the end of the season that will signal, we have reached our potential. “I still think we can finish strong, and make a good run in the play-offs but we have to start playing team basketball, and play under more control,” said Coach Barnes. “There isn’t any dominant SCISA AA team this year. It all comes down to who has their team playing the best at the end of the season.” After the game with Cathedral the Warriors will play seven games to conclude the regular season. Teams remaining to play are Clarendon Hall twice, John Paul II , Faith Christian , Dorchester Academy and HTTC .
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Ehrhardt — Third year Andrew Jackson Academy athletic director Josh Barnes , who is also beginning his 14 th season as the head boys’ basketball coach at his alma mater, making him among the longest tenured head coaches in the history of the school. Coach Barnes is a Vice-president bank manager by day at the Palmetto State Bank in Hampton. After graduating from AJA in he went on to graduate from The Citadel in 2002 with a degree in Business Administration . Last season Coach Barne’s boys’ varsity basketball team set a school record with 26 wins against five losses while winning the region title with a 9-1 record. Shooting guard Brenden Brantley established a new record for points in a season with 768 points after averaging 25.6 points a game. Brantley will be trying out for the basketball team at Coastal Carolina this year. Senior guard/forward D.L. Johnson set a school record for double-doubles last season after averaging 17.8 points and 12.9 rebounds a game. Johnson is still contemplating a school choice but hopes to playing at the next level somewhere. Graduated point guard Robert Clark will be on the basketball team at Charleston Southern after averaging 13.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and six assists last year for the Warriors. “We might not win as many games with our boys’ basketball team this season but over the summer we had a lot of younger players working hard all summer,” said Coach Barnes. “We had a very strong group of freshman and sophomore boys coming through the program right now. Some might play varsity and some might stay back and play junior varsity but we should have a very good basketball program for the foreseeable future.” Last year Coach Barnes estimated around 65 boys participated on basketball teams in grades five through seniors, on either a “C” team, a “B” team along with a junior varsity and varsity basketball teams. With that kind of feeder programs at a SCISA school success is sure to come by helping develop players in the lower grades. David Johnson returns to coach the girl’s varsity basketball team and they made vast improvement last season making the playoffs. Chad Gleaton will return for his third season as the head football coach. In 2022 the team moved up to 11-man football after being the most dominant team in state history in the SCISA 8-man ranks winning four titles in five seasons in recent years. The team managed only three wins as an 11-man program last season, and just recently Coach Barnes tells the HSSR that SCISA recently approved AJA to go back down to an 8-man schedule. “We simply do not have the participation in football we once had,” said Coach Barnes. “We can only play a regular season schedule and we will not be eligible for the play-offs. We will be given the schedule for either Cathedral, or Charleston Collegiate from last season because the two teams dropped football. SCISA has not told us which schedule we will have yet.” The varsity football team worked out 15-16 players in the weight room over the summer. The Warriors will participate in a jamboree hosted by Jefferson Davis Academy in early August. The junior varsity football program will be coached by John Paul Jones who will also assist with the varsity. Ben Reeve will also serve as a varsity football assistant. The volleyball team will be head coached by Michael Chassereau who had some prior coaching experience in the AJA volleyball at lower levels a few years ago. He will now serve as the head volleyball coach at AJA for the 2023-24 school year. The HSSR witnessed a summer conditioning work-out Coach Chassereau had with the team in June and he was asked about the potential success of this year’s team. “We are going to be young but we do have three starters back,” said Coach Chassereau. “They are senior back-row player Rebekah Chassereau, senior outside hitter Ali Polk, and freshman McKinney Beard who can play about anywhere we need her. She can set, play in the front or on the back row.” Other potential starters include sophomore Carly Smoak who could see time as a setter along with junior Sydney Crosby who could see action on the back row. Rileigh Barnes is a junior who can play in the middle, or on the back row, Freshman Carrigan Moore will see time on the front row. Other members of the team working hard to secure playing time are junior outside hitter Brianna Crosby , freshman back row player Mary Gray Hiers , first- year player Aliona Kinard , sophomore front row player Bella Carigg , along with junior Alei Grace Formby . “These are a great group of girls to work with,” said Coach Chassereau. “My goals are always to win the season opener and then compete to win the region. I think we can be competitive. “I tell my players that when you make a mistake on the floor, to forget it, and focus on winning the next play,” said Coach Chassereau. “I am all about hustle and disclipline. We do not want any team to out-hustle us.” The AJA team will begin the season at home August, 14 against Patrick Henry. The varsity baseball team will once again be coached by Jason Mathys who played college baseball at Iowa State . After college he played for a few season in the New York Yankees organization as a pitcher. “Coach Mathys is an accomplished baseball player and he brings great disclipline to the athletes we have in the baseball program,” said Coach Barnes. “He does things the right way and he will no doubt build a strong program.” At press time Coach Barnes said the head coach for the softball team was still up in the air. Jessica Mathys finished a very successful season in the Spring in her second year as head coach. She had indicated she would not be back next season. Her rising sophomore daughter, Elena Mathys , will be attending the Governors School in Hartsville this year. Because her new school does not field a softball team she has been approved to play softball at Hartsville High School , a very competitive AAAA program. The varsity cheer coaches are Ashley Barnes , starting her third year, along with her assistant coach Stephanie Brandt . The junior varsity cheer coach will be Rhonda Jones . After many years of outstanding and devoted service to AJA, as the Head of School, Jamee Barnes has resigned to devote more time to his family farm that includes over 100 Angus Beef that must be fed twice a week. Coach Barnes will coach the boy’s B team basketball squad this season.
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