By Billy G. Baker Publisher Dillon —After the Dillon High girl’s basketball team finished (19-6, 9-1) a year ago, with no seniors on the team, expectations are very high for even greater season during the 2024-25 season.  After 11 games of the season, Dillon is 8-3 and the injury bug has hit the team very hard. “We have not been at full strength, as a team, since our second game of the season,” said veteran Dillon head coach James McMillian , now in his 9 th season with the Wildcats. “ Mariah Campbell has missed our last 9 games and Treasure Davis has missed our last five games, and she was limited with a wrist injury in the third game of the season, and she tried to play a few games with limited minutes before we had to rest her. “We expect to have both players back in the very near future, and when we are at full- strength I feel really good about our chances for a deep play-off run,” said Coach McMillian. “The silver lining is that having several platers out early in the season, it has made us have to play other players more, and they have stepped up and gained valuable experience. “I feel like we will be ready for a strong finish, once we get everyone healthy,” said Coach McMillian. “We just hope the rest of our season, after the holiday break, will be like our first two wins of the season.” Dillon opened the season against Conway on December, 6 th with Davis ( a freshman who scored 654 points in her 7 th and 8 th grade seasons) leading all scorers with 21 points while Campbell was next in scoring with 11 points. Dillon played Crestwood the next day, and avenged a loss to the Knights, who ended the Wildcats season in 2023-24 with a second -round win over the Wildcats. With Davis and Campbell scoring 18 and 14 points respectively Dillon improved to 2-0 with a 58-55 win. Then four days later, with Campbell out, due to a medical issue, Dillon went to Crestwood and won 57-52. Davis scored 26 points to lead the team. However, Coach McMillian was very impressed with soph guard Khwnylahi McKinnon stepping up with 19 points in the game. Then in game four, with Campbell out, and Davis playing only four or five minutes with the wrist injury she sustained in the fourth period versus Crestwood, Dillon improved to 4-0 with a 38-23 win over Conway. McKinnon led the offense with 11 points, and this time senor guard Ayonna Lester stepped up and scored 10 points in the Wildcats win. In limited action, Davis scored 9 points. Over the next seven games Dillon went 4-3 with wins over Marion (55-48), Purnell Sweat , NC (52-45), Red Springs , NC (54-34) and Manning (51-38). The losses came against Fairmont , NC (L 54-41), Blythewood (L 63-25), and Scott’s Branch (L 44-43). Against Marion, Davis poured in a career high 41 points. Against Manning, McKinnon dropped in a season high 25 points. While Campbell has been out, two players have stepped up in her place. They are soph guard Azyriah Ford and junior guard Zynijah Pernell . The other starter for Dillon is senior forward Zadaiya Moody. Other hard-working members of the team include junior PF Jiana McGill , sophomore guard Jaziyah Leggette , junior PF Alyssa Lee , junior PF Jaleah Bethea , and senior PF Kiasia McLeod . Coming into January, Dillon is led by three players in double figures. Davis, a top freshman prospect, is averaging 21.7 points and 9 rebounds in the games she has played in. Davis is also averaging 3.1 steals and 2.1 steals a game. Campbell is at 12.5 points a game including six rebounds and 3.5 assists a game. McKinnon is averaging 10.7 points and 5.3 rebounds a game including three assists a game. Lester is having a solid year with six points and 5.3 rebounds a game and she leads the team in steals at 3.4 a game. In January Dillon will play 9 games. They start off at home against Lake View on Jan. 8 th before starting the region schedule at home against Loris on the 10 th . On the 14 th they travel to Lake View before a road region game at Marlboro County on the 17 th . Games follow at home against Waccamaw on the 21 st , away at Georgetown on the 24 th , before an away game at Loris on the 28 th . Dillon then closes out the month of January with a home game against Aynor on the 31 st .

Dillon's Zay Robertson, All-Region and All-State Receiver plus 200 meter Sprint champion.

OCA's Sophomore QB Aiden Manavian threw for over 200 yards and 3 TDs in the win over Dillon.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher  Moncks Corner— For the majority of the 2024 football season BHP, and first year charter school Mountain View Prep were the top two teams in the weekly HSSR AAA football rankings and one of the them is heavily favored to compete in the gold medal round hosted at South Carolina State University on Saturday December, 14 at noon. In the HSSR final AAA ranking Mountain View Prep has moved to number one in the ranking with BHP a close number two led by Clemson running back commitment Marquis Henderson (5-11, 179). With their 48-7 win over Broome last week, they finished the regular season as the only undefeated team in AAA. The Stars simply have too many offensive weapons (roster boasts 72 players) to be denied an opportunity to win a AAA football championship in their first year of playing varsity football. They are led by Broome running back transfer Jaylin McGill who went into the game this past week with 1,237 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 108 carries. McGill is among the top running backs in the Southeast area in the Class of 2026. MVP senior quarterback Bryson Drummond went into the final regular season game having completed 99-of-142 passes for 1,807 yards and 22 touchdowns. His top targets have been junior WR Kadarius Hainsworth (37-903-15 TD’s) and senior WR Kaevon Washington (18-426-2 TD’s). McGill is right behind with (19-385-7 TD’s). Senior RB T.J. Gassoway provide depth at running back for MVP and he had 245 rushing yards on 28 carries and 3 TD’s going into the Broomer game. This first year charter school is simply loaded with a team of transfers with a roster loaded with potential next level players for head coach Grey Ramsey . This team’s mascot is “Stars” for a reason. On defense MVP is led by senior LB Eli Smith with 57 tackles, 6 TFL and two interceptions. Senior DL Quay McCauley has 38 tackles on the hit index with 11 TFL including a team leading seven sacks. Senior DL Shannon Whiteside has 36 tackles, 9 TFL and four sacks. Junior DB Jacobe Smith has 30 tackles, three TFL also. MVP will host Carolina High School this week at Newberry College in the first round of the AAA play-offs. With either top ranked MVP, or second ranked BHP favored to emerge as the AAA upper state champions the AAA lower state is not as predictable but the favorites at this point are region rivals Loris, ranked number three in AAA and Dillon ranked number four. When the two teams met earlier in the season at Loris, the Lions pulled out a 30-27 win and neutral observers at the game were quick to point out that Dillon was flagged around 18 times to only four penalties for the Lions. “It seemed every time we got a drive going, we had some odd penalties called that killed our scoring opportunities, and after we looked at the film on Saturday, we wondered why several of them were called at all,” said Dillon head coach Kelvin Roller . (No doubt a highly rated crew of officials will call the next game if these two teams meet in the play-offs and the HSSR predicts the penalties will not favor either team 18-5. (See in-depth story on Dillon on page 14 of this issue) No doubt, Loris has one of the better defenses in AAA. Their 14-13 lost to Socastee is the only blemish on their Lions season to date. Loris (9-1) have defeated teams 363-83. The Lions have three talented running backs and none of them are seniors. Sophomore Makel Stephens (5-8,175) finished the regular season with 642 yards and 13 TD’s while soph Roderick Purcha (5-10, 160) contributed 478 yards and seven TD’s. Junior Khalil Sherman (5-11, 175) has contributed 438 yards and seven TD’s. Loris has a junior QB Zamire “ Moon ” Gerald who has a strong arm. He finished the regular season completing 109 passes for 1,298 yards and 16 TD receptions. His top targets are senior Quantez Dyson (6-11, 165) who has 382 reception yards on 17 catches and five TD’s to date. Junior Jacobien Lewis is next with 14 catches for 287 yards and fie TD’s. Senior Zhimir Herring has caught 13 passes for 205 yards. On defense, Loris is led by three veteran seniors. Senior MLB Avery Todd (6-0,185) has 70 tackles along with two TFL. The most impressive head hunter for the Lions has been senior OLB Javon Johnson (5-10, 210) who also has 70 tackles, but his 19 TFL and a team leading seven sacks are very impressive. Senior ILB Patrick Bellamy is third on the hit index with 60 tackles and three TFL. Loris also gets additional defensive support from junior DE/LB Landon Connor ((6-0,225) who has 56 tackles and 8 TFL along with junior DE Damarea Thurmond who has 53 hits and seven TFL. Woodruff is also having an outstanding season from the up-state and lower state foe Oceanside Collegiate won the AA state title a year ago, and they could be a spoiler in the play-offs. (See story on Oceanside on page 45 of this issue).

By Billy G. Baker Publisher  Dillon —The HSSR’s number four ranked Dillon Wildcats (8-2) used their bye week to nurse some minor injuries, while focusing on being more fundamentally sound, as they prepare to host Battery Creek (3-6) in the first round of the AAA football play-offs, starting on November, 15. Fourth year head coach Kelvin Roller, said that Battery Creek is very athletic and well coached. “Right now, our goal is to be 1-0 every week, and play one week at the time,” said Coach Roller. “If we work hard in practice, we should play just as hard on Friday night, hopefully. We used the bye week to get better fundamentally. We also brought up several jayvee players after their season, and we used the bye week to get them acclimated to being on the varsity.” Coach Roller was very proud of the way Dillon finished the regular season with four straight region wins over Aynor ( 49-7), ( Marlboro County 35-12), Waccamaw (47-39) and Georgetown (56-0). “We had a strong finish to the regular season, and I am really proud of all of the hard work put in by our players and coaches,” said Coach Roller. “I am also super proud of our huge region win over Marlboro County on October 18 th at home. “All of our players are home grown, and have come up through our program, and this game meant a lot to them, and I am proud of the way we played against Marlboro County,” said Coach Roller. “In that game, our two inside linebackers, Daniel Capehart and Kelvion Brown had 16 and 17 tackles each. with two sacks each also. Both of them came to play against Marlboro County. “I give a lot of the credit for their improved play this season to our Defensive coordinator, and inside linebackers coach Bill Young, who coached in college at UNC Pembroke before we were fortunate to hire him at Dillon,” said Coach Roller. “Our defensive side of the ball has been well coached this season.” Against MC, senior quarterback Rahmond Hamilton completed 7-of-14 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. Hamilton also added 24 rushing yards on four carries. “Very proud of the way Rahmond has grown into the position at quarterback, after being a wide receiver for the past few years,” said Coach Roller. “In all honesty, we were able to do more with him at quarterback then with other quarterbacks in recent years. He can make plays with his arm, and his feet, and he has continued to improve at the position with every game this season.” Going back 30 seasons, Dillon has had at least one player earn a spot on either the Shrine Bowl, or North South teams most years, but not this season. “I know what a challenge it is to pick all-star teams so I am not going to fuss about Dillon being over-looked this season,” said Coach Roller. “Hopefully, when we play Battery Creek, because their head coach ( Ed Susi ) is the South head coach; he will have the opportunity to see a deserving player like our running back Jamarion Fling play. “Hopefully, if he needs a replacement player, he can consider Fling, or any other of our hard-working seniors,” said Coach Roller. “We hope to play well against Battery Creek in the first round of the play-offs. “I think Fling will go down among the best to every play at Dillon, and that is saying a lot,” said Coach Roller. “In one of our last games, near the end of regular season, he rushed for 276 yards and scored six touchdowns in one game.” Coach Roller said that having junior prospect Zay Robertson (6-1, 175, 4.39) available to play at both WR and DB, along with the good play of CB Zeph Campbell, allowed Dillon to be able to rest Fling a lot on defense, where he had more than 10 interceptions, as a top flight DB his junior season. Speaking of Robertson, Coach Roller said that this honor roll “A” student, and 200- meter sprint region champion, picked up his first major college offer from Coastal Carolina recently. Just a few weeks ago N.C. State called about Robertson. “No doubt in my mind, he is a major college receiver,” said Coach Roller. “He is a very good guard on our basketball team also, and he runs routes with precision, and he uses great moves to get open in coverage. “I know Zay impressed the Gamecock coaches during the 7-on-7 camp finals game that he and our 8 th grade quarterback led us to at South Carolina last summer,” said Coach Roller. “If he is not what major colleges are looking for, as a total package well-rounded student athlete, I can’t imagine what they are looking for, in all honesty. This kid is a gamer.” The Wildcat offensive line has been intact for the majority of the season. This hard-working group includes first- year senior starting LT Ky’heim Lester (6-4, 255) who is also a basketball prospect. The other tackle is soph Keyshawn Ray along with guards Mishaad Gilchrist and Kiele Pompey . The starting center is Nicholas Byrd . The Nasty Cats of defense had seven defensive players with 32, or more tackles, at the end of the regular season. At the top of the tackle index currently is junior MLB Keryien Brown (6-0,210) with 118 total tackles, 8 TFL and two sacks. Daniel Capehart is at 96 tackles, including three TFL and two sacks. Third on the list is junior OLB Tristan Blue who has 43 tackles, three sacks and three interceptions. Senior DE Ta’Marein Rogers (6-1, 185) has 41 tackles with three TFL and four sacks. Senior DT Azavion Deberry (6-0,275) has played well with 38 tackles, including three sacks and one TFL. Sophomore prospect Kelvion Manning has played well at strong safety and he comes into the Battery Creek game with 37 tackles, four TFL and one sack. Senior CB Dan Graves has 35 tackles and a tea m leading five interceptions. Senior CB Zeph . Campbell rounds out the top Nasty Cat tacklers with 32 tackles and one interception. On offense, Hamilton has completed 95-of-169 passes for 1,377 yards and 14 TD’s with only three interceptions. Fling is the top rusher with 910 net yards on 164 carries with 17 TD’s. Robertson is the top receiver with 46 catches for 744 yards and 8 TD’s at the end of the regular season. Running back Dominick Felton was having a good junior season with 449 yards on 58 carries and 9 TD’s but he was recently lost for the season due to injury. Senior WR EJan Green has caught 13 passes for 245 yards and three TD’s and Fling has caught 10 passes for 146 yards and one TD. “If we can limit our mental mistakes, and play turnover free football, I feel like we can make a deep run in the play-offs,” said Coach Roller. “We also need to make explosive plays on offense. Our goal at Dillon is to always be playing in the last game of the season.”

Dillon's Jamarion Fling

Loris RB Deuce Stephens

Dillon's Zay Robertson

Dillon FB players at the HSSR Media Day 2024