By Billy G. Baker Publisher Gaffney —Early into the 2025 softball season, Gaffney head softball coach Maddie Pruitt is not pleased with the Lady Indians starting out 0-2, but the team has showed steady improvement with an impressive showing in the Tyger River tournament held March, 14-15. “We finished 4-1 in the Tyger River tournament, winning our bracket against some good teams,” said Coach Pruitt. (One of those wins was a 4-3 thriller over Seneca .) “The high school season is a long season, and as a team we have to continue to focus on things we can control in this game,” said Coach Pruitt. “Our team showed growth at the tournament, over the weekend, and I am excited to see how it transfers to the rest of our season. “On March 1 st , we went 1-2 in a pre-season tournament,” said Coach Pruitt. “Following that we opened up region play ( Boiling Springs & Spartanburg ) dropping these two games making us 0-2 in the region right now. I feel like we have a more talented team this season, only graduating two players from last season. Right now, we are struggling to play a clean defensive game.” Gaffney began the season on Feb., 25 with an 8-5 win over Palmetto . Against the Mustangs sophomore pitcher/infielder Ashley Caraway , senior infielder Dacey Phillips , and 8 th grade catcher/infielder Maysen Byars each had two hits. Caraway and Phillips also contributed two RBI’s along with junior catcher/infielder Brooke Smith .  Ashley Caraway was the winning pitcher in the circle against Palmetto scattering six hits while striking out six batters. She currently has a 2.33 ERA. Smith, junior infielder Korbyn Lydia , committed to USC - Upstate , and junior pitcher Kourtney Caraway are three returning all-region players from 2-AAAAA. Smith has contributed two RBI’s to the team early on. Lydia is batting .308 with five RBI’s and two stolen bases and was late joining the team to her all-region play with the Gaffney girls’ basketball team this season. The top hitters to date are Ashley Caraway at .500 including four RBI’s, two doubles, and a .571 on base percentage. Mia Calhoun is an 8 th grade out-fielder batting .500 with four RBI’s, two doubles and a .667 on base percentage. Maysen Byars is hitting .385 with four RBI’s and the team’s only triple. Molly Byars is batting .375 with four RBI’s. Junior outfielder Maddy Burgess is batting .455 with four RBI’s, with a team leading two home runs, and a .500 on base percentage. Phillips is batting .333 and she is committed to play softball at North Greenville College . Kourtney Caraway is at .273 and senior outfielder Brookly Jennings is batting .250. Other members of the team include freshman pitcher/infielder Malorie Wood, along with 8 th grade pitcher/second baseman Allie Parker . The softball team has 8 more games scheduled for the month of March. The Indians are at Greenwood on the 18 th , host Eastside the next day and paly at Byrnes on March, 21 st . On the 24 th they host Dorman , play at Riverside the next day and conclude their March schedule at Greenville on the 28 th .

Gaffney's running back Jaiden McDowell will be back for his senior year this fall.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Gaffney— The HSSR Div. II AAAAA Gaffney Lady Indians basketball team (21-2, 9-2) will host Riverside on Tuesday February, 11 (as the HSSR had just gone to press) and the winner of that region game will likely claim top seeding in the upper state Div. II AAAAA basketball bracket along with earning a region title. “If we win the game against Riverside, everything takes care of itself and we are the region champions,” said veteran head coach Mark Huff wo has won six state titles as a boy’s head coach. “We lose and a lot of situational things happen. Byrnes still has to play Riverside on Friday.” Gaffney tuned up for their big game with Riverside with a thrilling 61-57 win over rival Spartanburg on February, 7. After trailing 32-26 at the half to the lay Vikings, Gaffney played much better in the second half to earn the victory. “We took better control of the basketball in the second half and we shot the ball a little better also,” said Coach Huff. “We missed several close-in open shots in the first half and we also missed some free throws.” Against Spartanburg, junior forward Shriah Harris paced the offense with 20 points and sophomore power forward TT Hopper contributed 12 points. The team’s only two losses of the season came against Dorman (65-58 & 60-49).”For some reason, Dorman is a bad match-up for us,” said Coach Huff. “Dorman lost both times to Riverside and Byrnes this season.” Coach Huff said he is not changing strategy going into the playoffs and Dorman will be competing in Div. I AAAAA in the play-offs. “We are 21-2 so why should we change what has been working for the team,” he said. “For the most part we have been healthy this season. Lauren Mathis missed five games with a sprain knee and Izzy Sarratt had a case of pneumonia and missed two games. Everybody is well and we are focused on playing a great game against Riverside on Tuesday.” In terms of this team having potential to win the Division II AAAAA girls state title at the Florence Civic Center in March, Coach Huff responded, “Yes, we have potential to win it but so do many other teams,” he said. “We got our hands full competing in the Division II upper state play- offs against teams like Riverside , Greenwood , Greenville , Fort Mill and TL Hanna.” Having home court for the majority of the play-offs is a key reason to emerge as region champions. “Any time you can play at home in the play-offs, in front of your fans, you are better off,” said Coach Huff. “Avoiding 75 to 100-mile bus rides is also to your advantage.” Coach Huff describes Harris as a versatile basketball player. “First of all, she has played all five positions for us at one time or another,” he said. “Her talents give us leverage in changing strategy during the course of a game. She makes it easy for us to adjust the line-up depending on who we are playing. It is really rare to have a player who can play all five spots.” Coach Huff is also very high on sophomore TT Hopper . “She stepped up and carried the team on her back last season when we lost Harris mid-way for the season,” he said. “He went on to be the Region Player of the Year as a freshman and that does not happen very often.” He is thankful that junior Korbyn Lydia (committed to play softball at USC -Upstate) can play either Wing slot. ”She can play shooting guard or Wing and we can adjust our strategy with her depending on where we might be in foul trouble.” Coach Huff describes sophomore point guard Lauren Mathis as the quarterback of the team. “She’s a great team player and she makes us go,” said Coach Huff. “I call her the quarterback of the team. She is very unselfish and we missed her over the five games she was out.” The team’s first person off the bench is usually freshman Kaylin “ Kay Kay ” Howse . “She is a very good on-ball defender,” said Coach Huff. “She plays really tough. I say she has a little dog in her play.” Then Sarratt can play multiple positions also. “Sarratt can play anywhere form one-three on the court and she is a slasher with good moves to the basket,” said Coach Huff. “She attacks the rim very well.” As the regular season winds down Harris is the stats leader scoring 20.4 points a game including 8.3 rebounds with 2.8 assists and 2.5 steals a game. Hopper is at 15.8 points a game including 9.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals a game. Lydia is at 10.4 points and Sarratt is at 6.4 points per game, 2.7 rebounds, and she leads the teams in assists at 3.9 per game. Mathis is at 6.9 points a game with 3.4 assists and she has made30 three-pointers to date. Coach Huff has never won a girl’s state basketball championship but he does have a solid team this season capable of bringing gold back to Cherokee County in a few weeks. (Never bet against a Mark Huff coached team). Gaffney Boy’s Have late Season Win Over Spartanburg 84-63 A huge 84-63 win over rival Spartanburg on February, 7th have kept Charles Blue’s Gaffney boys’ basketball team in contention for the play-offs pending what happens in the final game of the regular season. “We have two games left next week but we feel good about our chances of making the play-offs after our amazing win over Spartanburg,” said Coach Blue. “When we had lost to Spartanburg earlier in the season we had eight players out with the flu.” Against the Vikings, Zion Ratchford tossed in 25 points with 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. Deylen Whitaker had 18 points, 8 assists and five rebounds against the Vikings. Londin Bailey produced 10 points and five assists against Spartanburg. “We have been without our top scorer ( Rickey Littlejohn ) the past two games due to a minor foot injury,” said Coach Blue nearing the end of his second season at Gaffney. “We expect him back for both our final regular season games this week.” Down the stretch of the season the Indians took wins over Boiling Springs (62-27), Eastside (64-54 OT), Wade Hampton (79-53) and the Vikings to keep their play-off hopes alive. They have a key region game against Riverside on Tuesday. To date the stats leaders are sophomore point guard Rickey Littlejohn at 12,.7 points and 2.7 assists a game. Four players are between seven and eight points on the points per game chart. They are Deylen Whitaker (8 pts & 5.2 rebounds), freshman Zion Dawkins (7.8 pts & 2.9 reb) along with senior Londin Bailey (7.6 points & 4.6 reb) and senior forward Kaleb Phillips (7.1 points & 4 reb.). “

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Gaffney — With six state titles on his resume, as a boy’s head basketball coach, Gaffney girl’s head coach Mark Huff (598-232) appears to have a roster full of talented and dedicated players as the Lady Indians have come out of the holiday break at 13-0. The Indians appeared destined for a championship run a year ago until forward Shirah Harris broke a bone in her foot near the end of the season. The team rallied and won the region title on a huge win over Byrnes in the final regular season game. “Shirah is back and 100 per cent healthy,” said Coach Huff. “She is one of our captains and she is just a great kid to have on your team. She plays hard all the time and she is a great rebounder and she goes to the basket hard to score baskets inside.” Through 13 games Harris is leading the team in scoring at 19.1 points a game, 8.1 rebounds, and she is shooting 55 per cent form the field. “When Harris went down last year, Tinah “TT” Hopper picked up where Harris left off and carried us the rest of the season,” said Coach Huff. “She is having a great season for us right now and she and Shirah give us two six-foot players on the inside.”  Hopper is averaging 16.9 points and 9.2 rebounds a game after 13 games of the 2024-25 season. Coach Huff describes sophomore point guard Lauren Mathis as “the quarterback of the team.” Mathis is a third- year starter and is only a sophomore. She is averaging 7 points and 2.1 points a game. Mathis is also an all-state tennis player. Junior small forward Korbyn Lydia was an all-region performer on the softball team this past Spring and she is also an excellent basketball player. Lydia is averaging 10 points a game including 2.9 assists and 2.6 steals a game. The other captain on the team is senior wing player Izzy Sarratt . “She is one of our best all-ball defenders and she has worked hard to improve her scoring this season,” Coach Huff. Sarratt comes into January averaging 7.2 points, two rebounds,3.8 assists and 2.6 steals a game. One of the first wing subs off the bench is freshman Kaylin “ Kay Kay ” Houze . She is averaging five points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 steals a game. One of the first post subs off the bench is senior Chiara Terlizzi and she is currently averaging 2.2 points and 2.1 rebounds a game. The rest of the team is made up of senior forward Kymora Pearson who can play forward or in the post. Junior Kourtney Caraway is a point guard and freshman Taylor Smith is a power forward up from the junior varsity. Gaffney began the season on November, 22 with a 70-30 win over Travelers Rest . They went on to beat Wren (72-40), Fountain Inn (60-20), Clover (43-37), Fort Mill (56-39), Wade Hampton (81-13),Fort Mill again (70-49), Eastside (68-17), Greer (76-26), Cross Creek (67-40), East Gaston (72-6), and Irmo (68-36) on December, 30. “Our defense has really improved over last season, and we are playing the girls on defense like I use to with my boy’s teams,” said Coach Huff. “We pressure full-court and play hard the entire game. “This team has a lot of experienced players,” said Coach Huff. “Lauren played 11 games on the varsity as a 7 th grader and TT played 16 games for us in the 8 th grade and Korbyn played on the varsity as a freshman,” said Coach Huff. “Izzy played a lot on the varsity her freshman year also.” One situation did concern Coach Huff in a recent game. “We were playing in a tournament in the Bennett Bennett Memorial at Clover High and we had a 32-8 lead over Irmo at the half,” said Coach Huff. “In the third quarter we had a lull, kike we took our foot of the gas and you hate to see this as a coach. We need to play hard all 32 minutes.” Does Coach Huff feel like this team can win a state championship. “If we can stay healthy, we want to defend our region title and be playing our best basketball going into the play-offs,” said Coach Huff. “We are certainly capable of a state title run but we have a lot of basketball to play.” Speaking of that, Gaffney will play Byrnes and Dorman in early January after Spring break. “I just hope we keep winning and keep playing hard,” said Coach Huff. Coach Huff said he is excited about adding Bubba Price to his coaching staff this season, “Bubba played on one of my state championship teams in 2009 and he decided to come back home to Gaffney this season and he has brought a lot of good ideas with him that we are using.” Coach Huff’s other assistants are Jasmine Kearse and Julian Wright .

Gaffney's Jamarcus Smith, a Shrine Bowler, their leading receiver with 984 yards on 65 catches and 8 touchdowns.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher  Moncks Corner —The region winners in the AAAAA SCHSL football classification all received byes for the first round of the play-offs that started on November, 15 th so if any upsets are brewing involving the top seeded teams in the two divisions we will have to wait until Nov., 22 nd for that to possibly happen. In the Upper State AAAAA D-1 a bye went to number one rated Dutch Fork (9-0) and they will play the winner of the Boiling Springs (6-3) versus Dorman (6-3) in a week two in Irmo. Rock Hill (5-5) received a bye and they will play the winner of the Mauldin (2-8) versus River Bluff (8-2) game in week two. JL Mann (8-2) got a bye and they await the winner of the Blythewood versus Clover (7-3) game on Nov., 15. Number four- rated Spartanburg , fresh off a close game loss with rival Gaffney awaits the winner of Lexington versus Byrnes in week one. In Lower State Div. I Summerville (10-0) has a bye and they await the winner between Fort Dorchester and Stratford. Cane Bay , a winner over Berkeley last week, received a bye and they await the winner between Spring Valley and Ridge View. Carolina Forest has a round one bye and they await the winner between Wando and James Island . Highly regarded Sumter (9-0) has a first- round bye and they will host the winner between West Ashley and Ashley Ridge on Nov. 15. Now, we move on to Div. II AAAAA: In the Upper state number one rated Northwestern (10-0) will host the winner between Eastside and Indian Land on Nov., 15. Greenwood received a first- round bye and they will host the winner of the nation Ford versus Hillcrest first round game on Nov., 15. T.L Hanna earned a bye and they await the winner of the Woodmont versus Catawba Ridge winner in round two. Gaffney , fresh off of a come from behind win over Spartanburg that clinched the region title, awaits the winner of the Greenville versus Riverside game. In the Lower state Div. II AAAAA: Irmo (9-1), fresh off of a loss to Dutch Fork , awaits the winner between Goose Creek and Chapin in week one. West Florence has a week one bye and they will host the winner between Lucy Beckham and North Myrtle Beach in round two. Berkeley has earned a bye and they await the winner between Socastee and Westwood in round one. Finally, Myrtle Beach earned a first- round bye and they await the winner between Lugoff - Elgin and White Knoll from first round action. The HSSR predicts that Dutch Fork and Summerville will emerge as respective bracket winners in Div. I AAAAA and will meet in the gold medal round at South Carolian State University on Friday Dec., 13 at 2 p.m. Tom Knotts , the head coach at Dutch Fork, told the HSSR after his 24-14 big win over Irmo last week, ““I pay attention to Dutch Fork, but now that I’ve played Irmo, these are the two best teams in the state,” said Coach Knotts after the Irmo win. “They’re going to be in the smaller (school size) 5A and we’re in the larger 5A, so thank goodness we don’t have to play them again and they’re probably saying thank goodness they don’t have to play us again. “We like to get to this time of year, the kids behave better, they focus better, they lift better, they meet better,” Knotts said. “This is our time of year. We’re used to it.” Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty shared these thoughts about the play-offs, ““Unfortunately we will have to play some teams we’ve already seen in the playoffs but it is what it is,” said Coach Rafferty. “Against Fort Dorchester we did some uncharacteristic things on special teams and turned the ball over near the goal line, but moving forward the key is the way our guy’s work. We have kind of built a good mentality throughout the season and just work and show up to play on game night. Basically, we just need to be the Green Wave.” The Summerville offense spreads the ball around and the team suffered some key injuries on both sides of the ball this season so a lot of players have seen action and contributed to the second consecutive undefeated regular season. In Div. II AAAA, the HSSR predicts a Northwestern versus Gaffney final in the gold medal round scheduled for 06 p.m. on December, 14 at South Carolina State University. Gaffney head coach Dan Jones told the HSSR after his win over Spartanburg last week, “Coach Jones said that during the bye week Gaffney would stay focused on getting ready to compete in the second round of the play-offs on November, 22. “We will study film and lift weights on Monday but we will have three full practices on Tuesday through Thursday,” said Coach Jones. “We will be hard-at-work getting ready to play wither Greenville or Riverside.” For the regular season, the Gaffney offense produced 1,423 yards rushing and 1,849 yards passing and that defines a balanced attack on offense. Gaffney out-scored teams 275-139. Northwestern , led by veteran QB Finley Polk has dominated teams 514-158 this year. Head coach Paige Wofford has done a great job coaching the Trojans for the past several years and his team is expected to plow through the competition in the play-offs on the way to the finals.

Gaffney's senior DB Jayden Sims

Gaffney's Jaiden McDowell on the carry.

Gaffney Football Team Attendees at the HSSR Media Day