By Neill Kirkpatrick
Special to HSSR
Denmark – Not many girls teams in the state of South Carolina have played better basketball over the past two-years than the Denmark-Olar Lady Vikings as they have gone 52-7 with back-to-back Class A Upper State championship and they come into the 2023/24 season with a 34-game region winning streak.
Despite losing over half of their offensive output from last season the second ranked (SCBCA) coach Terrance Jones’ Lady Vikings sit at 15-3/ 8-0 as they head into second half of region play. They dropped their first two contests against larger schools than ran off an 11-game winning streak. After a setback to AAAAA Rock Hill they have won four straight region games. To date the Lady Vikings are averaging fifty-five points per game but it is their defense that has been suffocating as they allow only 25 points per contest.
The Lady Vikings have only three seniors on the roster in Kymani Porter, Ednacia Darby and Janairus Spellman. Porter plays in the paint and has been one of the teams’ top rebounders for the past two years. This season she is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game and is the team’s leading shot blocker with thirteen.
Darby and Spellman have been solid off the bench. Darby is chipping in with 4.5 points and two steals.
Juniors Ry’Nashia Barnes and Aveion Walker have been the leaders for the Lady Vikings. Walker leads the team in scoring at 18.5 ppg. She is just fifty-five points from reaching the coveted 1000 career point mark. She also leads the team in rebounding at 10.3 per game and steals at 4.3 per contest. She is also a returning all-region player.
Barnes is second in scoring at 9.5 points per game as well as 5.5 rebounds per game and 3.2 steals per game.
Coach Jones has two girls that are not in high school yet in Azauria Wright and Amuria Wright. Azauria, an eighth grader, is second on the team in rebounding at 6.7 per game and has played good defense.
Amuria, just a seventh grader, is the team’s third leading score at 8.3 points per game and second in steals at 3.2 per game.
Junior Chardaisia Jackson and freshman Joy Johnson make up the rest of the Lady Vikings. Johnson is knocking down 6.5 points per game.
They will host Calhoun County (8-4/7-2) on Saturday and then wrap up the season with four of their final five games on the road before the march to Columbia begins.
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