Manning boys basketball team off to strong start under Patrick Clark

Manning – With all things being equal, Patrick Clark was happy with where the Manning High School boys basketball through its first 10 games.

“Considering who we’ve played and whatnot, I’d say we’ve not been too bad,” Clark said. “This is a team going through a bit of rebuilding, so there is plenty of room for improvement to be made. I feel like we’ve started OK though.”

The Monarchs won seven of those games. After opening the season with a 79-30 loss to AAAAA Blythewood, AAA Manning beat AA Fairfield Central 50-41, AA Kingstree 79-62, Class A Scott’s Branch 68-44 and Class A East Clarendon 61-29.

The Monarchs then suffered a pair of losses to defending AAA lower state champion Crestwood, 81-40 on the road and 65-52 at John Thames Arena. A 55-41 road win over Scott’s Branch was sandwiched in between. Manning has since beaten East Clarendon 66-38 and AAA Lake City 76-50.

Clark said the biggest issue for his team so far has revolved around struggling at the start of games.

“We’ve got to get better coming out matching the opponent’s energy,” Clark said, “Slow starts have been our demise in every loss. They can’t start playing in the last quarter, the last minute, when they see I’m upset. It shouldn’t take me getting upset.”

The Monarchs have just one returning starter from last season’s Region 7-AAA championship team in guard Jeffrey Ceasar. He was the only double-figure scorer with an even 17.0 points a game. He also had team high averages in assists at 3.1 and steals at 2.8 to go with 3.9 rebounds.

           The remainder of the starters are junior Tavion Carter, junior Josh Cooper, sophomore Emory Hampton and freshman Lovell Stevenson.

           Carter is actually in the starting lineup because of an injury to freshman Jordyn Thompson. However, Carter has been a regular part of the rotation and leads the team in rebounds at 9.9 and is second in scoring at 8.4. The 6-foot-4-inch Carter is also averaging 2.3 blocked shots per game.

           Stevenson is averaging 8.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals. Cooper is averaging 7.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals, while Hampton is at 3.7 points and 1.0 assists.

           Thompson is expected to be back in the rotation. He played in the first five games and was averaging 7.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

           Junior Peyton Frierson and junior Tyler Green each saw action in the first eight games. Frierson was averaging 2.0 points and 2.6 rebounds while Green was averaging just under a point a contest.

           Clark said he is trying to teach his team to be a more fluid unit offensively.

           “We’ve spent a lot of time getting them to move without the basketball in their hands,” Clark said. “We want them to see they can create opportunities by doing that. We want them to see, ‘If I move and I get open, I get rewarded. If I don’t move, I can’t get the opportunity.

They are learning to play team basketball.”

Clark had been out of high school basketball for four years, his last coaching job being at North High School in Orangeburg County. Clark led the Keenan girls program to a state championship in 2008. He also had coaching stops at Barnwell and Estill.

           Clark expects the Monarchs to make a lot of improvement over the holidays as they get into basketball shape.

           “We have a lot of guys who played football, so they’re just starting to get their basketball legs back,” he said. “They’re getting there, their play is starting to pick up and they’re getting better.”

           Clark believes his team has a chance to be very competitive in Region 7 which includes Dillon, Loris, Aynor, Georgetown and Waccamaw.

           “On any given day, we stand a chance,” he said. “At the end of the day it will depend on which team shows up. If we play like I know they can, we stand a good chance of challenging our region.”

TEN MONARCHS NAMED TO ALL-REGION 7-AAA FOOTBALL TEAM

           The Manning football team had 10 players selected to the All-Region 7-AAA team. They are seniors Triston Thames, Jamari Wilson, Javon Murray, Jamon Brock and Darrell Gamble, juniors Jeffrey Ceasar, Jalynn Coard, JaRae Mitchell and Lamar Hilton and sophomore Jontavious Canty.

           Thames, a running back, led Manning in rushing with 947 yards and eight touchdowns on 147 carries. Thames had 11 catches for 97 yards and one touchdown.

           Wilson played wide receiver and cornerback. He caught 16 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns. Wilson had 22 tackles, four interceptions, five pass breakups and one forced fumble.

           Ceasar played wide receiver and cornerback as well. He led the Monarchs with 34 catches for 467 yards and four touchdowns. On defense, he had 39 tackles, three tackles for loss, three interceptions, four pass breakups and one forced fumble.

           Wilson and Ceasar were both dangerous returning kickoffs. Wilson took back three for touchdowns an Ceasar had two.

           Coard played running back and nose guard. On offense, Coard had 676 yards and 16 touchdowns on 84 carries. Coard had 42 tackles, eight tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

           Mitchell, the quarterback, rushed for 397 yards and three touchdowns on 88 carries. He completed 71 of 124 passes for 863 yards and nine touchdowns.

           Canty, a defensive lineman, led the team with 98 tackles to go with five tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

Hilton, a linebacker, had 80 tackles, six tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.

Brock played right tackle on offense and graded out at 90 percent with 43 knockdown blocks. Brock saw steady time on the defensive front, finishing with 19 tackles and two sacks.

Gamble, the right guard, had an 89 percent grade with 26 knockdown blocks, while Murray, the left guard, had a 92 percent grade with 32 knockdown blocks.