By Rob Gantt Special to the HSSR MONCKS CORNER – Berkeley High School’s basketball teams have been ranked inside the top 10 all winter and have backed it up with their play on the hardwood. The Stags’s girls extended their win streak to eight games and improved to 10-2 with an exciting, 57-53 victory at First Baptist Dec. 30, to finish the Carolina Invitational with a 3-0 mark. “It’s about some of them learning me and learning how we operate, learning the system and jelling together,” said Berkeley coach Crystal Peace , whose team is ranked No. 6 in Class 5A Div. II. “There are 12 girls on the roster. There are going to be times when you might be playing tonight, and somebody else plays the next night. It depends on how the game is flowing. I just appreciate the girls for embracing their roles and doing what we ask them to do. I tell anybody I work them hard, and they work extremely hard.” Freshman Alaina Carter paces the Stags on the scoreboard for the season with 12 points per game, while sophomore Amani McCray and junior Demi Gray chip in more than nine points a contest. McCray leads around the glass with 7.4 boards per game, and junior Aiyanna Moses is the steals and assists leader. Moses, sophomore Imani Levey and junior Madison Thomas all average right at seven points. Levey and Ladson grab more than four boards per game. The Berkeley boys won their 11 th straight game Dec. 30, edging Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy. Against ELCA, senior Cam Palmer scored a game-high 22 points, and junior Justin Suarez tallied 13 points for the Stags. Deuce Kinloch leads in scoring and rebounding with 14.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. John Cleveland also reaches double figures in scoring at 13.3 points per game. Jordan Livingston chips in six boards and 1.7 steals per game. “We know we’ve got to keep getting better because what we’re doing now doesn’t matter at the end of the season,” BHS coach Matt Mullins said. “Our defense has been solid since I’ve been here. I think we’ve gotten better offensively. We’re a bit deeper than we’ve been the past couple of years. Some of the guys who have come up from junior varsity have contributed, and we haven’t missed a beat.”

Berkeley senior Reese Watson

Willie Kennedy from South Florence, MLB with 29 tackles this season.

Moncks Corner - Berkeley sophomore quarterback Henry Rivers has made quite a name for himself as a passer, but it was his legs that proved huge as the Stags came from behind to beat Ashley Ridge , 41-26, in the 2024 season opener for both teams. While he did throw three touchdown passes for more than 100 yards, Rivers rushed for 170 yards, scoring on a 56-yard run and setting up the go-ahead score with a 38-yard scamper to lead the Stags to a seventh straight home win, dating back to last season. The Stags ran for more than 250 yards as a team, and trailed throughout the first half before tying the game at 20 when Rivers hit Kayden Bash on a 20-yard score with 4:00 left in the third quarter. After Rivers’ run set the offense up inside the 10-yard line, Jesse Brown bulled his way in from a yard out, giving the Stags their first lead of the game at 27-20. Just seconds later, sophomore Cam McCue intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown for a 34-20 lead with 10:40 remaining in the game. Ashley Ridge put together a quick score on a touchdown pass by Kalisz but missed on a two-point try to trail, 34-26 with 8:18 remaining. Rivers and the ground game churned clock before Rivers tossed a touchdown pass to Kevin Boone with 5:15 to push the lead to 41-26. Ashley Ridge ran 30 plays on their first two possessions of the game, converting four times on fourth down and finishing each drive with touchdowns. Trevor Kalisz capped the first possession with a fourth down touchdown pass of seven yards to Bam Deweese for the early 7-0 lead. The Stags answered with a touchdown on their first possession as Rivers connected with Jonathan Mitchell on an eight-yard pass. A bad snap ruined the extra point, leaving the Swamp Foxes with a 7-6 lead with 2:10 left in the first quarter. Kalisz added a six-yard run in the second quarter for a 13-6 lead. Rivers answered that score with a 56-yard scamper. A missed extra point left the halftime score at 13-12.

Moncks Corner – Some summers can be a little hectic for high school athletic directors if there is significant turnover within the coaching staff. When a varsity or junior varsity sports team loses a head coach, the athletic director has to fill those positions. Sometimes, there is very little turnover but there can be years where several openings occur. Fortunately, for Berkeley High athletic director Brian Welch, his 2024 summer was relatively easy. Welch reports that every varsity head coach is set to return for the 2024-25 school year. “No changes, everyone is back, and that’s a good thing for the stability of our programs,” said Welch, who is entering his fourth year as athletic director. Head football coach Eric Lodge, entering his second season at the helm, has a few new assistant coaches in the football program. On the offensive side, Lodge has hired Chris Knight as the co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach. Knight comes from Hampton County High School and will share duties with Bryce McGill. Former Berkeley star receiver Solomon Butler is returning as a receivers coach this fall. Butler was an all-region selection and played at Western Carolina. Eugene Benton is new to the football staff. Benton will coach the placekickers and punters and will coordinate the special teams effort. He most recently coached at James Island and Oceanside Collegiate. Corners coach Joseph Williams is new to the staff, also coming over from James Island. Returning as defensive coordinator will be Cole Faulkner, who also coaches linebackers. Justin Mood begins his second season as the safeties coach and Kevin Wadford coaches the running backs. Along the trenches, former Coastal Carolina player Brock Merritt works with the offensive line while Andrew Dennis coaches the defensive linemen. “We have a good staff and we’re coming together well with the new guys,” Lodge said. “We’re basically learning on the fly but we’re in good shape.” Returning head varsity coaches include Courtney Shine (volleyball), Joe Harnage (boys, girls tennis), Missy Loftis (cheer), Melissa Hicks (boys, girls cross country), Matthew Mullins (boys basketball), Crystal Peace (girls basketball), Jeremy Colley (girls golf), Cole Faulkner (boys golf), Thomas Ard (wrestling), Landy Cox (baseball), Kelly Dillon (softball), Nick Hammond (boys soccer), Will Chassereau (girls soccer), Damien Callum (boys track) and Tyshonda Hawkins (girls track). As the athletic director, Welch knows the importance of having a solid relationship in the community and stresses to his coaches to be involved in camps and developmental programs to foster a positive relationship with younger kids. Berkeley is the lone public school in Moncks Corner and the town supports their Stags to the hilt. “It’s a great town and the people here love their Stags,” Welch said. “We are very fortunate to have a community that supports our athletic program and all of our coaches understand that having a good relationship with our community is vitally important to our success. “Our coaches have taken a big role in the lower levels, the rec department. We want to get to those kids very early and develop a strong relationship because those are our future athletes. We have great participation in our camps through our partnership with the rec department. We want our coaches to make an investment in the community. It creates energy and enthusiasm. It’s a big deal and our coaches recognize the importance.”

Moncks Corner – With a full year of preparation and improvement in all areas under their collective belt, the 2024 Berkeley High football team looks for better results under second-year head coach Eric Lodge . Lodge was hired in March of 2023, leaving only a few months to not only implement his new way of doing things but also just learning his players. Berkeley ended up 6-6 in 2023 and even notched a win in the state playoffs. Not a bad showing but leaving Lodge and the Stags wanting more. Lodge and the coaching staff went pretty young in terms of players on the field last fall. With a host of players back bigger and stronger, the obvious goal would be improvement. “Certainly we are further along in terms of our players knowing what to do and what our expectations are,” Lodge said. “The players have had a full year to learn and understand things and we as coaches know our players better. We’re bigger and stronger and we’re more experienced. We definitely think we can and should be more competitive and more successful this year.” Offensively, Berkeley returns an explosive passing game that proved to be among the best in the region. Sophomore quarterback Henry Rivers was the full-time starter last season and passed for more than 2,500 yards while rushing for nearly 600 yards. Rivers’ top two targets in the passing game, seniors Kayden Bash and Kevin Boone, each tallied more than 750 receiving yards and could be in for 1,000 yard seasons this fall, Anchoring the offensive line will be junior prospect Zion Britt, along with Hunter Drawdy and Denzel Reid. A major issue in 2023, the defense, should be very improved this season. The Stags allowed an average of 33.7 points per game and nine opponents scored at least 30 points. Experience returns at all levels, particularly along the front seven. All three starting linebackers return in juniors Marcus Henderson, Kevin Rivers and Gehad Sneed. Henderson had more tackles than any player in Class AAAAA last season. Anchoring the front are Andre Williams, Daquan Benekin, Landon Jackson and Jamere Heyward. “They have worked really hard because they want to prove they are better than they were last year,” Lodge said of the defense. Back with some experience in the secondary is safety Jehoava Williams. Another key returner is senior placekicker Preston Short. Berkeley will open the season on Aug. 23 against Ashley Ridge. Other non-region games are against Winter Park, Florida, Summerville, West Ashley and St. James.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner — In a Lower State AAAAA softball play-off game continued from a second inning rain-out the night before, (May, 15), between Berkeley (19-9) and Chapin (22-8) , the home standing Stags won a pitcher’s duel 2-0 to advance to play Summerville on May, 17. The Stags have a tall order on their plate needing to defeat the top-ranked Green Wave twice in order to advance. The state championship series is scheduled to begin on Monday at the upper state champion s home field. Game two will revert back to the lower state’s team home field on Wednesday. If a third game tie-breaker is needed it will be played at neutral site on Friday (May, 24). After the win Berkley head coach Kelly Dillon shared some thoughts with the HSSR. “In my tenure at Berkeley this is our third trip to the Lower state finals and I am so proud of my team and the adversity they have overcome this season,” said Coach Dillon. “We have had some adversity with the weather and we lost one of our key players to an injury recently ( Savannah Scott ) and we have remained tough and focused on our goals anyway. “We played small ball in the bottom of the 6th because when you need just one run to win you play to win,” said Coach Dillon. “I am very thankful; for a great bunting team. Every time I have asked for it to be put down, they have put it down so I am very proud to our commitment to the cause.” ( Courtlyn Cox delivered a perfect bunt that advanced the runner into scoring position in the bottom of the 6 th inning.) “We know we have a challenge going over to Summerville on Friday needing to win two games and you never know what might happen,” said Coach Dillon. “We are hungry and we are on a mission and we are playing moment to moment so we hope to at our best on Friday.” Chapin head coach Cal Sayger is wrapping up his 7 th season at Chapin. ”we have been fighting the weather all during the play-offs,” said Coach Sayger. “We just made too many mistakes in this game tonight. We have the program on sound footing. We have won back-to-back region titles and I very proud of the commitment all of our players have made to the success tour program.” Coach Sayger is saying good bye to four seniors. They include pitcher Aspen Mayers , Ella Maychiva k, third baseman Andree Dircks , and outfielder Alexia Evans . “These girls have been in the program since the e8th grade a d they will be missed,” said Coach Sayger. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 6 th inning. The Stags Rileigh Ballentine led off with a single to center field. Courtlyn Cox’s Sac bunt moved Ballentine over to second base. She moved over to third, on a passed ball, while Brooklyn Moon was batting. Moon singled in Ballentine for the first run of the game. Ansley Riddle then doubled, barely missing a home run against the fence in deep center field. This hit put runners at second and third with one-out. An RBI ground-out by Camden Valicek scored Moon to give Berkeley all the runs they would need to win the game. Berkeley pitcher Reese Watson worked all seven innings, allowing only four hits. Watson’s six strike-outs in the game now gives her 201 on the season in 120 innings pitched with an ERA of 1.20.

Moncks Corner – With the first week of the SCHSL baseball and softball playoffs in the books, the Berkeley High squads look to continue their strong postseason starts. The baseball and softball teams at Berkeley enter the first full week of May in solid position to claim a district title and move into the Lower State phase of the 2024 playoffs. The baseball team, coached by Landy Cox, posted two wins early, beating Fort Dorchester and St. James in impressive fashion. The 12-0 road win at St. James was especially solid as the Sharks had been a top 10 AAAAA team for most of the season. The Stags have been without ace starting pitcher Cole Greer since spring break. Greer injured his ankle and had surgery which will keep him on the sidelines for the postseason. Cox has seen other pitchers step up, namely senior Connor Barham and junior Gavin Gaskins. The duo has been very good in the latter stages of the regular season and into the playoffs. Offensively, senior catcher Mason Salisbury and senior shortstop Gavin Edens have heated up at the plate down the stretch. Salisbury had two doubles and four RBI in the win over St. James and had two hits and two RBI in the win over Fort Dorchester. Edens tallied five hits in the first two playoff games, scoring five runs. Sophomore second baseman Hudson Clark also has scored five runs in two playoff games from the leadoff spot in the order. Berkeley was set to host Fort Dorchester in the district finals on May 6, needing to lose twice to not advance to the final four Lower State series. Coach Kelly Dillon’s softball team won the region 6-AAAAA title and opened with playoff wins over White Knoll and Ashley Ridge to improve to 16-8 on the season. Junior Reese Watson has been a mainstay inside the pitching circle this season. In the 5-0 win over White Knoll, Watson struck out 16 hitters and allowed just one hit. Berkeley defeated Ashley Ridge, 15-1, in their second district playoff game. “I’m just so proud of her for her work ethic, her mentality, her graciousness,” Dillon told Rob Gantt of the Berkeley Independent. “She’s just a hard-working kid and you don’t see a lot of those all the time. She earns every out she gets.” Offensively, some key producers during the playoffs include catcher Riley Guerry, second baseman Courtlyn Cox and shortstop Rileigh Ballentime. Designated hitter Brooklyn Moon belted two doubles and drove in three runs in the win over Ashley Ridge. Outfielder Savannah Scott has been a strong leader offensively and defensively as well. “Every playoff win is important,” Dillon said. “It’s all one game at a time now. It doesn’t matter who you’ve seen before and what you did in the regular season.” Stags compete in region 6-AAAAA track meet Berkeley’s track and field program recently competed in the region 6-AAAAA meet with several athletes performing quite well. On the girls team, Brianna Bennett was a top performer with a second-place finish in the 400 meter run. Christiana Robbins finished fifth in the 400. Jada Ellison finished fourth in the 200 and fifth in the 100 while Alana Everette was sixth in the 100 and seventh in the 200. Kaysey Cooper ran well in the hurdles, taking third-place in the 100 and third in the 400 hurdles events, Amera Forest was fourth in the triple jump. Imani Levey finished fifth in the discus and Zaryah Scott placed fourth in the shot put. Jeffery Jefferson was the runner-up in the long jump and was fourth in the triple jump for the boys team. Kamren Jenkins was third in the high jump and Isaiah Nelson was fifth in the long jump. Gavin Doty and Thaddeus Richardson were second and third, respectively, in the pole vault.

Stags improve to 3-0 in region with triumph