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Crestwood's top-ranked boys roll past Lake City 89-44 in Region 6-AAA opener

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • Jan 07, 2024

Crestwood girls take control in fourth quarter for 63-37 triumph

       Sumter – After suffering its first loss of the season and being pushed to the limit in another game in the Pepsi Classic, the top-ranked Crestwood High School boys basketball team opened region play in dominating fashion on Friday.

 

      The Knights, ranked No. 1 in the High School Sports Report Sweet 16 AAA poll, used their relentless pressure defense to jump out to a 13-point lead after one quarterback and never looked back in an 89-44 victory over Lake City at The Castle in the Region 6 opener for both teams.

 

      “I think we responded well to that,” CHS head coach Aric Samuel said of the 63-62 loss to North Augusta in the first game of the Pepsi Classic held last week in Florence. Crestwood followed it with an 81-70 win over Trinity Collegiate and a 75-74 win over South Florence.

 

“It’s always good to win. It’s always easier to fix things when you’re winning as opposed to fixing them when you’re losing. We’ve got some things to work on.”

 

In the girls game, Crestwood came away with a 63-37 victory, although it was a much closer contest.

 

      The Crestwood boys, who played for the AAA state championship last season, had just two points through the first three minutes of the game, trailing 5-2. However, once they kicked it into gear, they took total control of the game.

 

      The Knights used their deep bench throughout the game, playing 12 of the 17 players on the roster in the first quarter alone. They led 23-10 after one quarter with senior starter Aaron Coleman scoring six and senior B.J. Burgess coming off the bench for seven.

 

      CHS, which improved to 14-1 on the season, used its fullcourt pressure defense to continue to force turnovers, often around the midcourt line. That led to numerous easy baskets as it scored 28 points in the second quarter to take a 51-23 lead into halftime. Coleman had eight points in the second quarter, Xavier Johnson seven and 6-foot=8=inch junior Teon Tindal had six.

 

      Reserves played most of the second half for CHS, but the Panthers were never able to put together any kind of charge. Crestwood led 71-37 after three quarters.

 

      The Knights had four players score in double figures with Coleman leading the way with 14, all coming in the first half. Tindal finished with 12 followed by Burgess with 11 and Johnson with 10.

 

      Junior Riley Durant was close behind with nine while senior Neomiah Pope had eight and freshman Jaden Shaw and junior Shannon Davis both had six.

 

      Junior Blayne Edwards led Lake City, which fell to 6-9, with 14 points. Senior Bryson Rose, LCHS’ leading scorer with a 16.8 per-game average, was limited to seven, while senior Dallas Davis, another double-figure scorer like Edwards and Rose, only played in the third quarter and did not score.

 

      Sophomore Jeffery Burgess scored eight points.

 

      Lake City head coach Seneca Barron is in his first season at his alma mater. He said his 6-9 team is still in a learning process, and one of the things it has to do is learn to compete better.

 

      “Man, they’re a good team, they do a lot of good things,” Barron said of Crestwood. “We’re trying to rebuild this program. Hats off to them. They do what they do well. They speed you up, and our guys are just not there yet to play with them. We were just outmanned.

 

      “I didn’t like the way we finished the game. We’ve got some things we’ve got to fix in-house, going to try and revamp this team with some players who are dedicated to what we’re doing. They’re a good team, but we made them better.”

 

      Crestwood will be on the road for two huge games this week. It will travel to Bennettsville to take on No. 12 Marlboro County on Tuesday before visiting No. 4 Darlington on Friday.

 

      “I think they understand the magnitude of those games,” Samuel said. He is hoping for a better defensive performance when the Knights aren’t able to force turnovers off the press.

 

      “The scoreboard said we did a super, super job, and we did. I thought we played together, I thought we executed a few things, but we’re looking for just a little bit more toughness on defense in the halfcourt. Once we get back in practice, that’s going to be our focal point, to make sure we can keep the ball out of the paint, blocking out and understanding the importance of that.

 

“When we’re playing tougher opponents, we’ve got to be a little tougher in the halfcourt on defense.

 

`       In the girls game, Crestwood was in the lead the overwhelming majority of the game, but it wasn’t really able to stretch it out until the fourth quarter.

 

      The Knights led 11-6 after one quarter and 23-18 at halftime. They pushed the lead to 38-30 entering the fourth quarter and then outscored Lake City 25-7.

 

      Junior Saniya Williams scored eight of her 25 points in the fourth quarter for the Knights, who impr4oved to 6-5. Senior Liliana Ignacio hit two 3-point shots in the final stanza for six of her 11 points.

 

      Junior Javiah Martin finished the game with nine points, and junior London Vaughn had seven.

 

      “I always tell them to play as a team, and tonight I feel like they did that,” said first-year CHS head coach Bridget Richardson. “We played with more consistency than we have. They had to learn me, I had to learn them.

 

      “I think we fare pretty well in the region. As long as we play as a team and we play with consistency, we’ll be great.”

 

      Lake City, which fell to 5-7, was led by junior Jayda Burgess with 16 points. Sophomore Na’Shira Starks had 11 points.

 

      “Right now, we’ve got to do a lot of growing,” said Panthers head coach Debra Muldrow, who had just one senior on the roster. “We’ve got to come together and play together.

 

      “We’ve got to gel. We played very well in the tournament last week (going 2-1in the District 9 Officials Christmas Basketball Tournament in Sumter). “The mentality has to get better. They do young mistakes. We’ve just got to keep working.”

 

BOYS

           LAKE CITY

Amari Hanna 4, Blayne Edwards 14, Jayden Graham 2, Bryson Rose 7, Antonio Dickson 2, Etavion Davis 2, Jordan Dawson 1, Reginald Matthews 4, Jeffery Burgess 8.

      CRESTWOOD

Jaden Stephens 2, Shannon Davis 6, Xavier Johnson 10, Aaron Coleman, B.J. Burgess 11, Teon Tindal 12, Jahiem Jones 5, Neomiah Pope 8, Riley Durant 9, Jaydis Williams 2, Jaden Shaw 6, Aric Samuel Jr. 2, Nyzer Pearson2.

 

      GIRLS

      LAKE CITY

      Hannah Riles 1, Trayana Burgess 3, Jada Robinson 3, Na’Shira Starks 11, Jayda Burgess 16, Destiny McFadden 2.

 

      CRESTWOOD

      Saniya Williams 25, Javiah Martin 9, London Vaughn 7, Allana Dixon 4, Jonee McClain 2, Liliana Ignacio 11, Jer’Niya Alston 1, Kemoni Davis 3.

Clarendon Hall Uses Five Run Second Inning to Defeat Colleton Prep 6-1, In Game One Of SCISA AA Softball Best-of-Three Championship Series

By Billy Baker • 14 May, 2024
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Summerton — Softball championships are not always won just by the plays of the moment; they are won by the players on championship teams who prepare on a year-round basis, through summer ball, fall ball, outside instruction, and a total commitment to the sport. In Clarendon Hall’s 6-1 win over Colleton Prep (18-5-2) in Monday’s first game in the best- of- three SCISA AA state title series, observers could see the aforementioned on full display as a relaxed and well-trained team from Clarendon Hall played error free softball. Pitcher Calli Yount had 11 strike-outs, and the Saints produced timely hits with runners in scorer’s position.  It was the third time the two teams had meet this season and it was the third win for Clarendon Hall. The two previous wins were 8-0 and 6-0 so Colleton Prep improved by scoring a run this time. They hope to score even more as the two teams (weather permitting) get ready to play game two at 5 p.m. at Colleton Prep today. After the game Clarendon Hall head coach Jeffrey Bays , told the HSSR, “We definitely got some timely hits today but we didn’t hit the ball like we usually do,” said Coach Bays. “You do have those games where you are not as strong as you usually are at the plate, and we tell our girls to be patient and wait on their pitch. “Getting some walks, mixed in with a few timely hits, proved to be a game changer for us, said Coach Bays. “I was really proud of how the girls responded to the challenge today. I can’t think of an error we made, and that is really important, and we have played very clean ball most of the year. “Our pitcher tomorrow will be a game time situation,” said Coach Bays. “Calli had a good outing today but we do have several pitchers who can throw strikes so we’ll just have to wait and see.” Colleton Prep head coach Tiger Martin told the HSSR , “They scored six runs total and five of them came in the second inning and then they got a solo home run later and made some errors and gave them some walks that helped them score the six runs,” said Coach Martin. “More games are lost then ever won. The team that makes the fewest mistakes usually comes out on top and they played a cleaner ball game then we did tonight. “It didn’t help that we had four backward K’s and we need to swing the bats more,” said Coach Martin. “We have to lay off her riser ball that was coming in high today and it can be virtually unhittable. Hopefully, we will have an umpire today that likes them thrown a little lower. We have to hope she can bring the ball down a little.” The Saints pushed across five runs in the bottom of the second inning. Yount led off with a single and then Colleen McIntosh drew a walk. Lacey Corbett singled to score Yount for a 1-0 lead and a throwing error on the throw in allowed both runners to advance to second to third. Two batters later, Macie McIntosh drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Brynlee Brewer , the only new starter on the team this season, reached on an error allowing two runs to score to make it 3-0. Two batters later, Macie McIntosh , drew a one-out walk to load the bases. An RBI ground-out RBI by junior Mandy Wells made it 4-0. The Saints 5 th run scored on a passed ball. In the CP 4 th inning, Ava Murray led off with a double down the third base line. She was brought in on a two-out single by Hannah Strickland to close the deficit to 5-1. CH added an insurance run in the bottom of the 5 th on a solo home run by Yount over the left field fence. Yount had three hits in the game including a home run. Clarendon Hall had six hits for the game and they benefitted from several CP errors and five walks they were issued. Yount gave up five hits in the game with two walks to go along with her 11 K’s. Senior Sydney Stivender pitched all six innings for CP. She recorded four strike-outs in taking the loss.

SCISA BASEBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDUP

By Staff reports • 14 May, 2024
Hilton Head Christian, Augusta Christian, Dorchester, Richard Winn take openers

SCISA SOFTBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ROUNDUP

By Staff reports • 14 May, 2024
Laurence Manning, Pee Dee, Clarendon Hall, Jefferson Davis win openers

Cardinal Newman wins fifth consecutive SCISA boys soccer state title

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • 14 May, 2024
Cardinals beat Hammond 4-0 to finish as undefeated AAAA champion

SCISA Softball and Baseball Championship Scores

By Larry Gamble • 14 May, 2024
Scores from around the SCISA universe from Game 1 Monday. SCISA SOFTBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Best-of-3 series AAAA Monday Laurence Manning 5 Hammond 4 Tuesday Hammond at Laurence Manning, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed AAA Monday Orangeburg Prep 0 Pee Dee Academy 3 Tuesday Pee Dee at Orangeburg Prep, 6 p.m. Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed AA Monday Colleton Prep 1 Clarendon Hall 6 Tuesday Clarendon Hall at Colleton Prep, 5 p.m. Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed CLASS A Monday Cross Schools 0 Jefferson Davis 4 Tuesday Jefferson Davis vs Cross Schools, @ Bluffton High School Wednesday At Neutral Site if Needed SCISA BASEBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Best-of-3 series AAAA Monday Augusta Christian 3 Cardinal Newman 1 Tuesday Cardinal Newman at Augusta Christian, 6 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed AAA Monday Hilton Head Christian 3 Pee Dee Academy 1 Tuesday Pee Dee at Hilton Head Christian, 6 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed AA Monday Calhoun Academy 2 Dorchester 6 Tuesday Dorchester at Calhoun Academy, 6:30 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed CLASS A Monday Richard Winn 8 Holly Hill 2 Tuesday Holly Hill at Richard Winn, 6 p.m. Thursday At Neutral Site if Needed

SCISA softball, baseball state championship series set to begin on Monday

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • 13 May, 2024
Five of eight series will have teams trying to defend titles

Day Two Of SCISA Softball Tournament Establishes Final Two Teams In All Four Classifications For State Title Starting On Monday

By Billy Baker • 13 May, 2024
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Sumter — The good news was that no rain fell on Sumter’s Patriot Park on May, 11 providing for some great games in the annual SCISA softball playoffs with 8 teams qualifying to compete for AAAA, AAA, AA and Class A state titles starting on Monday. Game two will be played on Tuesday at the opposite site of the home team on Monday. If a third game is needed it will be played at a neutral site on Wednesday. One notable highlight from the games on Saturday was junior Mandy Wells of Clarendon Hall hitting three consecutive home runs in her team’s 15-0 win over Calhoun Academy to advance the Saints to the AA finals on Monday against Colleton Prep . Wells hit her two home runs to dead center field and her second homer was a base clearing grand slam. Her third home run was a line drive over right center field. Wells came into the SCISA tournament batting .481 with 28 RBI’s. Game one between Clarendon Hall and Colleton Prep is schduled for 6pm on Monday in Summerton. Laurence Manning defeated Hammond 5-3 to advance to the AAAA finals. The lost sent Hammond to the loser’s bracket finale against Wilson Hall and Hammond the defeated the Barons 14-4 to earn the right to play Laurence Manning for the title starting on Monday at 6 p.m. in Manning. “We started out hitting the ball right at people and Hammond gave us a great game,” said LMA head coach Buddy Truett . ´We didn’t like having to get up at 7 a.m. to get over here by 9 a.m. and it took us awhile to get going. We are excited to playing for a state championship. It should be a very competitive series and having finished runner-up the past two seasons we are focused on winning it all this year.” LMA trailed Hammond 3-3 going into the bottom of the 6 th inning. Lily Welborn led off with a single and made it all the way to third on a throwing error. An RBI single by Kaylee Avins scored Welborn to tie the score at 3. The difference in the game was a two- run homer from 8 th grader Karly Bjork the next batter up for LMA. “I told her after she hit the home run that I didn’t think I could love her anymore but I do now,” said Coach Truett. “I am very proud of the girls. We made some errors early in the game we do not normally make but we came back from being down and I very proud of all of them. ”We know that Pee Dee has good pitching and they are a solid hitting team also so we are expecting quite a series against them,” said Coach Kinard. “We went over there last year and kicked the ball around a bit. Our goal is playing better defense against them. Defense wins championships.” In Class AAA action, Orangeburg Prep defeated Thomas Sumter 15-0 to advance to the AAA finals. The Class AAA championship games for Pee Dee and Orangeburg Prep start Monday in Mullins at 6pm. Pee Dee Academy head coach Wes Eskridge told the HSSR after his team’s big win over John Paul II Saturday: “We have been fortunate to win three state titles in a row and we are competing in the finals for the 7 th straight time and I could not be prouder of this team,” said Coach Eskridge. ”Jo Jo Perritt is just a sophomore and she gets the job down in the circle for us. “Orangeburg Prep is a tough team and the key for us is for us to play our game and not theirs,” said Coach Eskridge. “We know we have to keep working hard.” In Class A action Jefferson Davis Academy will compete against Cross Schools , who defeated Laurens Academy 4-3 to advance. Jefferson Davis earned the right to play for a Class A title by defeating Cross School 7-1 on Saturday. Head JDA head coach Bart Owens told the HSSR , “Regan Still did a great job pitching all three games in the tournament and she is headed to Florence-Darlington Tech to play next season,” said Coach Owens. “We beat Wardlaw 16-3 and Laurens Academy in our other two tournament games ”Regan is an outstanding pitcher and she is the best that I have ever had at JDA,” said Coach Owens. “Super proud of the whole team today. Or goal now is to win the state championship next week.” The Class A championship series starts Monday at JDA game time is 6pm.

Christian Academy wins SCISA AA boys soccer state championship

By Dennis Brunson hssrl.com Associate Editor • 13 May, 2024
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PHOTOS: SCISA Super Softball Weekend 2024

By Larry Gamble • 12 May, 2024
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Softball Tournament play kicked off in Sumter, SC with teams from around the state playing an intense two days of games to determine the top teams in each class to challenge each other for the final championship that will decide each Class' State Champion later this week. This photo gallery is just some of the Seniors who will be on the diamond and giving it their all one more time for a championship. More photos from the softball games, at Palmetto Park and Patriot Park from Friday and Saturday are available by following this link or the one below. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.

Five teams win SCHSL boys soccer titles

By David Shelton • 12 May, 2024
Columbia – Memorial Stadium in Columbia was the site for the 2024 South Carolina High School League state championships for boys soccer on May 10-11. The five contests were highly competitive with three contests needing overtime to decide the outcome. Oceanside Collegiate repeated as the state champion in Class AA while Riverside won a fourth consecutive state championship in Class AAAA. St. Joseph’s coach Frank Kucinic hoisted the top trophy for the 11 th time in his career. Here’s the recap of the five contests. Class A boys St. Joseph’s 2, Christ Church 1 (golden goal) Johnny Bunecke’s golden goal in the first sudden death overtime period lifted the Knights of St. Joseph’s Catholic to a 2-1 win over Greenville area rival Christ Church. The title was the 11 th for Knights head coach Frank Kucinic and was the second straight Class A crown for the Knights. St. Joseph’s finished 2024 with a 17-4 record. “Holy smokes, what a game,” Kucinic said. “Amazing season for these kids. I knew coming into this that it was always a battle. The rivalry adds to it every time we play. Hat’s off to our guys. I’ve had these seniors since they were in the sixth or seventh-grade and this is a great way to send them out.” Christ Church and St. Joseph’s split two games in the regular season had split the last six contests heading into the finals. The Knights took the early advantage, getting a goal from Thomas Flanigan in the sixth minute of play. Christ Church evened the score seven minutes before halftime on Reeves Dobson’s equalizer off a follow up shot. Each team had a few chances to score but went through regulation and two 10-minute overtime sessions before the sudden death periods. Bunecke’s goal came less than two minutes into the period. “Just a great play by everyone,” Bunecke said. “Just passing it around and it got crossed over to me. At that point it was just muscle memory.” Christ Church’s first-year coach Russell Shelley felt his team had opportunities to win. “Great respect for their program and both teams had chances to win it,” Shelley said. “We played hard. Guys gave a great effort. We’re disappointed but it was a great season and a great accomplishment to be in this position.” Class AAAAA boys – Fort Mill 2, Stratford 2 (Fort Mill wins 3-0 on PKs) It took a while, five hours in fact, but the Fort Mill boys soccer team found a way to outlast Stratford in the Class AAAAA boys soccer finals. Fort Mill won the penalty kick phase, 3-0, to come away with their first state title since 2012. Adding to the 110 minutes of soccer was a two-hour weather delay with 31:59 left in the contest. The loss ended Stratford’s chase for their first-ever boys soccer state championship. Fort Mill provided the offensive push early in the first half and grabbed 1 -0 lead off a header by Braden Gritz in the14th minute of the contest. With 31:59 remaining in the contest, the teams were forced off the field by lightening, a delay that lasted for two hours. When the teams returned, the Knights brought another level offensively. “I think the rain delay helped us. I think it took some of the pressure off,” Stratford coach Jessie Stament said, “They came out and it was brilliant soccer. I could not be prouder of them. To see the pain in their eyes but they have no reason to hang their head. It was an incredible game by both teams. They really gave it their all.” Senior Vinny Teixeira got the equalizer in the 58 th minute of play. Three minutes later, fellow senior Jackson McNeil found the back of the net to give the Knights a 2-1 lead. The Yellow Jackets would not go away, firing a shot at Stratford keeper Enzo Mori that bounced off his hands and to the foot of Ryan Seitz. The point blank goal tied the score at two. “I am super proud of the boys,” Fort Mill coach Pete Burroughs said. “We felt like we were here for a reason. Our guys left it all on the field today. Both teams did really. It was a great game to be a part of.” Class AA – Oceanside Collegiate 3, Gray Collegiate 0 Oceanside Collegiate got three goals in the final 25 minutes of the contest to record their second straight championship game victory. “This one was harder,” OCA coach Collin Phillips said. “Happy for this moment. Guys played with discipline. They (Gray) pressed us hard in the first half. I think once we scored that first goal, we seemed to relax and play better. We needed one score to give our kids some confidence.” After a scoreless first half, OCA got on the board in the 54 th minute of play on a goal by Isaac Rasheed. That lone goal would appear to be enough but security was provided by Mathias Dennis with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Icing on the cake came with under two minutes on a goal by sophomore Robert Hemingway. “In my opinion, they are the best team in this state, regardless of classification,” Gray Collegiate coach Kevin Heise said of OCA. “Our guys battled. We came to play and we played great soccer for about 65 minutes or so. Once we got down, we tried to push more and we gave up a few goals. I’m proud of my team. We gave them all they wanted. We knew we would have to play an A-plus game to have a chance. I’m disappointed for my boys but we had a helluva year.” Phillips was proud of the way he team handled the pressure of being the defending state champion. “When we came into this season, we talked about the target on our back. We managed to go through the season undefeated because the guys work so hard. We didn’t rest on what we did last year,” Class AAAA – Riverside 1, James Island 0 (overtime) Riverside made it four in a row, winning an intense, physical battle with James Island. After a scoreless 80-minute battle in regulation. With two mandatory 10-minute overtime periods to come, Riverside got an early goal from Kanye Ridgill off a header in the first overtime. The Warriors then played great defense for the remaining 17 minutes, holding off several scoring challenges from James Island. “Great game,” Riverside coach Scott Columbia said. “It seems impossible to win four (in a row) but it’s a program. These guys, their heart was so much bigger. They followed the program and played so hard. “Tonight, that was a great James Island team. They put the pressure on us and they kept us from scoring goals with their defense. I give them major, major credit. We just kept fighting the whole entire time and I am very proud of the boys.” “It was a well-played game by both teams. We just came up a little short,” James Island coach Todd Robinson said. “Really proud of my team though. We gave it all we had. We lost to a really good team.” James Island entered the final game having won 11 straight while allowing just four goals during that run.
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