By Rob Gantt Special to the HSSR SUMMERVILLE – Cane Bay High School’s boys basketball team has produced some sensational performances during the first half of the year, including a school-record output in one contest and a 22-point victory at a top 3 squad in its classification a few days later. The Cobras’ latest success might be their best win of the campaign. Cane Bay improved to 9-4 with a signature win over Wren High School, 58-56, Dec. 30. “They’re really, really good,” Cane Bay coach Shawn McKeen said about the Hurricanes, who won a 3A title in 2023 and played for the Upper State title in 4A in 2024. “They’re always very well-coached. We’ve played them three times in the Carolina Invitational. It’s always a good test for us. They’re going to be in the hunt in Class 4A.” Also notable, Cane Bay torched Beaufort , 107-36, Friday, Dec. 6, and pulled away from then No. 3 Summerville 76-54, Tuesday, Dec. 10. “Right now, I love where we’re at,” McKeen said. “Everybody is healthy. We have 16 kids on the varsity team, and there have been a couple of games where we have been able to play everybody. They’re putting the team first. They’re buying in.” In particular, the Cobras’ depth has been on display. They were down a handful of guys in two of their losses but competed well. Junior forward Jarvis Roper and senior forward Kevin Dukes lead the Cobras on the scoreboard, tallying 14 and 10 points per game, respectively. Sophomore guards Jahleel Sanders and Landon Thompson average seven and six points. Dukes and sophomore forward Christian Davis are out front in rebounds, with better than five per contest. Sanders leads in assists and junior Amare Merrell in steals. Junior guard Jayden Waring has been a consistent contributor night in and night out. Freshman forward Jamel McKinley and junior guard Andre Hagler have made their presence felt recently, too, since coming up from JV and returning from an injury. The Cobras travel to Cathedral for another non-region game Tuesday, Jan. 7, before cranking up Region 7-5A play Friday, Jan. 10, at Goose Creek. “The biggest thing now is not going backward,” McKeen said.

By David Shelton Senior Writer Summerville – A strong and firm foundation must be established before a castle can be built. The same concept goes for building a high school sports program. Sometimes you have to take a few lumps early in the process but through hard work and dedication, success can be achieved. Cane Bay volleyball coach Chris Latigona ha assembled a 2024 roster that he feels will develop into a legitimate power, but it will take a little time. Nonetheless, the coach has a young team this fall and he has put the team through a difficult non-region slate of games against high level teams. “Although our overall record (5-14) doesn’t reflect, we have played some good volleyball. Coming up short to tough opponents,” the coach said. “We have a young team with only two seniors this year. My young team is learning to build resilience and have battled through several key injuries and sicknesses this year. We are currently 3-3 in region play and look to make a strong push for a playoff spot this year.” Three early region wins will do a lot for the goal of making the state playoffs. Cane Bay has two region losses to perennial power Wando and another to state title contender Lucy Beckham. The two seniors in the lineup are captains Caroline Combs (outside hitter) and Elli Robertson (libero). While their overall leadership is a key strength, the team’s best player is sophomore right side hitter Rylie Friar , who leads the team in kills and blocks while boasting the top kill percentage on the team. Sophomore Marley Stephens is the starting setter, along with junior Ellie Karan , who also sets. Juniors Zye Bryant and Mariah Bryant are the key performers in the middle of the net. Junior Brooke Bartlett is a key sub as a defensive specialist. “Our team strength is our scrappy defense,” Latigona said. “We are building something special with these young players, although we have our moments due to our experience levels. “We are excited to see how our young players, Rylie Friar, Marley Stephens and Ellie Karan progress the rest of the year and into the following season.”

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Summerville – Sunday afternoon the Post and Courier held its annual football media at Cane Bay High School and despite a week that saw tropical storm Debby wreak havoc with practice schedules several of the low country’s top players and coaches showed up to talk and get their picture taken. “We were only able to get in three practices this week so like a lot of teams we are behind in what we need to do to get ready for the opener,” said Cross High School head coach Shawn Wright . The media day is held by long time Post and Courier and HSSR senior writer David Shelton . Shelton has been one of the top Prep writers in the state for over three decades and before pictures and interviews began he had a powerful message for all the young men, “Football is what you do and not who you are.” Shelton shared with the players and coaches his personal tragedy of the loss of his two sons to the fentanyl problem plaguing our country. He let the players know that if you are having issues or other problems in your life there are always other solutions that will not end your life. He has a web site “1team1cause.com” which has the sole purpose to educate and help young people. The HSSR’s top ranked junior prospect Desmond Greene of Timberland was in attendance. The 6-5, 335 five-star prospect has over 20 offers to date with no favorites at the present time. His biggest concern right now is to get ready for the season. “I just keep grinding, keep working every day to get better. I want to embrace every challenge and every criticism to get better. I have heard from a lot of people and some stand out more than others but I am still feeling things out,” said Green. The James Island Trojans are coming off the best season in school history since James Island and Fort Johnson merged, finishing the year at 12-1 and advancing into the third round had several players in attendance including HSSR Top 100 Prospects Dalton Woodall (28 th ), Gray Dangerfield (48) and Hendrix Beran (54). Woodall (6-3,295) and Beran (6-4,252) anchor the Trojan defensive line and both are being recruited by several schools with Woodall holding an offer from the University of Toledo . On the upcoming season Woodall said, “We like to push each other a lot especially in the weight room. We have a lot of confidence and we know that if we continue to work hard and follow the plan we can go farther than we did last season.” Dangerfield is the top ranked kicker in the state and recently picked up an offer from Virginia Tech to add to the four offers from Army , Navy , Georgia Southern and Charleston Southern . When asked about being the top ranked kicker in the state Dangerfield replied, “It felt good to be recognized as the top kicker. I just get some touchbacks and score some points for the team.” Fort Dorchester’s Jalen White checks in the 65 th ranked player in the HSSR’s Top 100 . The 5-9, 170 defensive back will be playing for his third head coach in three years. Despite the turnover Jalen is still getting a lot of looks from college coaches among them are Wingate University, Georgia Southern and Coastal Carolina . Presently Wingate is in the lead. “I am just trying to help the new players get ready for the season. We have kept the same defense so we feel good about that but we are working hard to get back to our legacy,” said White. The HSSR always talked with a couple of players from the host school Cane Bay ; defensive back Malachi Dickerson (6,170) and defensive end Joshua Frost (6, 220). Both are senior leaders for the Cobra’s and they are looking to lead the team to its first region championship in school history this year. “My role on the team is to lead by example and to help the younger kids get used to how we practice and get ready to play,” said Dickerson.

Summerville – When Cane Bay High had an opening for its athletic director’s position, the administration and school district did not have to look far for the new boss. Cane Bay announced the hiring of Randall Tucker to take over the athletic program in early July. Tucker comes from Ashley Ridge High in Summerville, where he spent the last nine years. Tucker is a Berkeley County native, graduating from Stratford High in 1998. He spent time in coaching at Wando, Summerville and Ashley Ridge. “I really enjoyed my time at Ashley Ridge but I guess I was just looking for a change, a new challenge,” Tucker said. “I feel like we accomplished a lot at Ashley Ridge.” Tucker replaces Brian Swiney, who retired after five years on the job. Cane Bay opened in 2008-09 and Tucker will be the school’s fifth athletic director during that time. “I am excited for the opportunity and look forward to helping to grow the athletic programs at Cane Bay,” Tucker said. “The coaching staff is solid. There are a lot of coaches with experience and the program has been a consistently competitive program across the board. I look forward to working with our coaches to give the athletes the best opportunity for success.” Tucker was officially hired in July so he has had to hit the ground running, trying to catch up on all things athletics while meeting coaches. Cane Bay has several facility items on their wish list but, of course, many of those hopeful projects have to be approved and paid for by the district. “I know there is a need for a second gym and they have been working for a new weightroom,” Tucker said. “The facilities here are good but we are always looking for ways to improve and enhance what we have now. This is a growing area in a good district and my goal is to improve our relationships with the growing population here. We have a lot of possibilities.” Wash inducted into SCACA Hall of Fame Long-time coach Tim Wash was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame at the annual coaches clinic in Greenville on July 21. Wash is the former wrestling coach at Cane Bay and is still an assistant on the football staff. He made his mark in wrestling, accumulating more than 500 career dual match victories and three state championships. Wash formerly coached at James Island (his alma mater), Lugoff-Elgin, Rock Hill and Berkeley before coming over to Cane Bay in 2011. He retired as wrestling coach after the 2022 season. Wash earned 18 region coach of the year honors during his career. He is entering his 40 th year in coaching. He also won a state champion as a high schooler at James Island in 1980.

Summerville – Faced with major losses in key personnel from last year’s team, Cane Bay head football coach Russell Zehr says he and his coaching staff have been working diligently to identify capable replacements for the 2024 season. Cane Bay is in the midst of June offseason workouts, coming out of spring practice with some answers but remaining questions. “We evaluated a lot of personnel, trying to plug in the right guy in the right spots,” said Zehr, who led the Cobras to a 6-5 record last season. “We had to work a lot in preparing our younger guys to step in. There’s a big difference between being a jayvee player and a varsity player at the AAAAA level. We are working to acclimate those guys to the varsity level.” Zehr admits to having a good idea of what he and his staff had to work with as spring drills concluded. However, some of the plans have been affected by some players transferring to other schools and several have not been showing up in early June workouts. “We have had to sort of start the process over in some areas so that’s been disappointing,” Zehr said. One major void is at quarterback where the Cobras must replace a very solid and productive player, Mark Stewart, who has graduated. Looking to fill his shoes is junior Colby LaRocca, who was the backup a year ago. Sophomore Coran Houpe is up from the junior varsity and will get reps during the summer. “Colby has a good grasp of the offense but obviously he doesn’t have the game experience yet. But we feel he can do the job,” Zehr said. While the offensive line returns just one starter, center Mason Judy, the backs are experienced. Seniors Bryson Johnson and Austin Seabrook were starters a year ago and will be key players in the run game. Tyler Myers and Cameron Smalls also figure into the mix. Defensively, Zehr is counting on a crop of junior varsity players to have an impact this season. Two offensive returners, twin brothers Jayden and Jaylen Smith, are moving to the defensive side of the ball and will play along the line. Linebacker Brody Thacker, a junior, is up from the jayvee where he was a leader on that defense. Junior Cameron McCoy also could be a key factor at linebacker. Dominic Russell is the lone varsity returner at linebacker. “The biggest concern is with the secondary where we lost a lot of experience,” Zehr said. “We’re getting those guys a lot of reps in the summer with the passing league stuff. We have the bodies. They just need to learn what to do.”

Summerville – Several athletes from the Cane Bay High track and field program proved to be among the best of the best in region 6-AAAAA this spring. The region recently held its region championship meet, crowning team champions for boys and girls as well as individual champions in each event. Cane Bay had a solid showing overall with several athletes winning region gold and qualifying for the AAAAA Lower State meet. Mayson Samuel won the region title in the pole vault and Jamari Bland was the region champ in the long jump. Joshua Frost won the discus throw and was the runner-up in the shot put. Allen Williams finished second in the discus. Bryson Johnson had a good day in the sprints, taking second in the 100 meter dash and second in the 200 meter dash. Hurdler Jayden Anderson continued his great season by winning gold in both the 110 and 400 meter hurdles. Emmamuel Espinal was second in the 400 meter run. Jalisa Craft represented the girls team with a third-place finish in the triple jump, while Cierra Casebier was the region runner-up in the pole vault. In other spring sports, the girls soccer team finished the regular season with a 12-7 overall record and a 6-2 mark in region play. The girls opened the AAAAA state playoffs with a win over Summerville. Junior Claire Orth was among the top players in the region, finishing the regular season with 21 goals and three assists. Arianna Jackson, a senior, tallied 12 goals and six assists while sophomore Elliyah Tomes scored 14 goals with five assists. Senior Amber Hancock had a solid season as the goalkeeper this spring. The boys soccer team finished fourth in the region and 6-9-1 overall. The Cobras earned a spot in the AAAAA playoffs but drew defending state champion Ashley Ridge in the first-round, which ended the season. Senior Payton Shoemaker was among the team leaders this spring, finishing with 15 goals scored. Cane Bay’s softball team finished fourth in the region standings but the Cobras have put together a great run at the end. Cane Bay ended the regular season with a 1-0 win over region champion Berkeley. In the playoffs, Cane Bay faced another region champion, Chapin, on the road. The Cobras pulled the upset with a 2-0 win to advance into the second-round with a 12-10 record. Among the leading offensive performers this season are Aaliyah McLeod (.324, 43 runs), Kayleigh Christmas (.294), Jasmine Dargan (.338, 12 RBI), Tabi McDaniel (.304), and Lyla Roberson (.339, 9 RBI). Isabella Kelly has been a consistent performer inside the pitching circle, posting a solid 2.55 earned run average.