Both JDA basketball teams off to succesful starts in region play

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Blackville – The Jefferson Davis Academy volleyball program won its first ever region title last season, claiming the SCISA Region 1-Class A crown with a 5-1 record. The Lady Raiders appeared to be well on their way to a second consecutive region title, albeit this year in Region 2-Class A. They were off to a 6-0 start in region action as part of an 11-3 overall record. Jefferson Davis head coach Bart Owens likes his team’s performance to date, but he is looking for it to get better and better. “Our team is playing well, but we need more improvement before October,” Owens said. “We are trying to play our best volleyball in October to be our best at the state tournament.” The Lady Raiders still had several key games remaining prior to the Class A state tournament to be played on October 18-19 in Myrtle Beach. Jefferson Davis returned four starters from last season, and each of them was an outstanding player. All of them were All-Region performers led by Region Player of the Year Sydney Owens . The others are Rynn Fickling , Carrie Lynn Loadholt and Mattie Morris . Owens, a senior rightside hitter and setter who was also selected to the SCISA All-State team, averaged 17 assists, two kills, three service aces and two blocks per match for the Lady Raiders, who finished the season with a 13-6 overall record. Junior outside hitter Fickling and sophomore middle hitter Morris were strong around the net. Fickling averaged six kills, one block and four aces, while Morris averaged eight kills, two blocks and two aces. Loadholt, a senior libero, averaged six digs, three aces and three assists. Other members of the starting lineup are senior middle hitter Elie Fogle , sophomore rightside/middle hitter Abby Deerman and freshman libero/defensive specialist Riley Williams . The rest of the roster is made up of senior outside hitter Kaylee Jackson , sophomore setter/rightside hitter Mason Roberts , freshman setter/rightside hitter Ava Gozman and freshman rightside/middle hitter Rileigh York . Despite winning the region title last season, Jefferson Davis went a disappointing 0-2 in the state tournament as it was hampered by injuries. Coach Owens believes the Lady Raiders will make some inroads at the state tournament in a couple of weeks. “I think this group has their heads right to be very good late in the season,” he said. JDA FOOTBALL READIES FOR REGION RUN The Jefferson Davis football team has played four of the five other teams in Region 2 of SCISA’s 8-man division, but it was only 1-0 in region contests. How’s that, you ask? Because the Raiders are playing all of their region foes, with the exception of Cathedral Academy , twice. Jefferson Davis head coach Anthony Reitenour doesn’t particularly enjoy having to face teams twice, especially when not all of the games count in the standings. “We’d rather be playing some other teams, especially since our region is down a little bit this year,” said Reitenour, who guided the Raiders to the state title last year. “SCISA wants us to do it like this, so that’s what we’re doing. We’ve already beaten these teams, but now we’ve got to beat them when it matters.” Jefferson Davis is 6-1 on the season. It lost to Providence Athletic Club 32-14 to start the season before beating region foe Cross Schools – in a non-region matchup – 54-0. It then beat Georgia School for Innovation and Classics 28-26 in another out-of-region tilt. That was followed a 66-0 win over Conway Christian , a 54-0 triumph over The King’s Academy and a 36-18 win over Holly Hill Academy , the team it beat for the state title last year, in region non-region games. “That was really a nice win for us,” said Reitenour, whose team snapped HHA’s 3-year reign as state champion. “We held them to (166) yards of total offense. Some of the scores they had were because of bad mistakes by us, not so much their execution. I felt like that was a shutdown night for us.” Senior quarterback Colson Loadholt led the offense rushing for 198 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries while throwing a touchdown pass as well. The Raiders followed that with a 70-12 triumph over Cross Schools, making it 1-0 in region play. Along with Loadholt, Jefferson Davis has two other seniors in running backs Nasir Void and James Grubbs chewing up yards on the ground – when they’re able to be on the field. Loadholt had 538 yards and 11 touchdowns on 49 carries through the Holly Hill game. Void had 502 yards and seven scoreds on 57 carries, and Grubbs had 358 yards and four touchdowns 64 carries. “Colson’s kind of the guy right now at quarterback,” Reitenour said. “Our running game is really strong with 1A and 1B in Nas and James. We’re trying to get them a few more carries, but we try to be respectful of teams when we’re winning big. But we need them playing some now, so they’ll be in shape and not get gassed when we get to the playoffs.” The Raiders’ offensive line consists of senior center/guard Landon Williams and guards Cole Creech and Fischer Robinson seeing time at the guard slots. The Raiders were scheduled to play undefeated Cathedral on October 4, which was ranked second in the High School Sports Report SCISA 8-man poll. JDA was ranked third while Richard Winn Academy was ranked No. 1. Reitenour is not complaining though. “That is some of the best motivation our team has ever gotten,” he said. “I was kind of worried about us getting complacent. We’ve been kind of getting that underdog treatment, so it has our attention. We’re going to get our respect on the football field. It has definitely fueled our guys a little bit more.”

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Blackville — It’s too early to predict if Jefferson Davis Academy (6-1) will defend their SCISA 8-man football championship they earned a year ago, but their 70-12 defeat of the Cross Schools at home on September, 25 th revealed a team focused on that mission. After the win, head JDA coach Anthony Reitenour told the HSSR , “We had a few big moments in this game early, but in all honesty, I felt like we got a little complacent, and we didn’t play as physical as we usually do,” said Coach Reitenour. “Playing physical for all four quarters is our brand of football. “Our goal was not to score 100 points on them tonight, but I do expect us to play physical for the entire game,” said Coach Reitenour. “We got the early lead, got a little complacent, and started taking plays off, and you know as well as I do that you can’t be a championship team taking plays off. “We need to be the best version of ourselves for four quarters,” said Coach Reitenour. “I am proud of the fact we won the game in dominating fashion but we have to keep working and improving if we hope to reach all of our goals this season. Coach Reitenour said the team will be in full pads on Monday focused on being a physical hard-nosed football team. “If we play our brand of football, and we if play hard for all four quarters, to be honest, I think it will be hard for anyone to beat us,” said Coach Reitenour. “We know that Richard Winn is undefeated but I will put my money on our guys.” After a bye week, the Raiders will next host Cathedral on October, 4 th in a homecoming game that could determine the winner of Region 2 8-man. Cathedral (6-0,3-0) played Holly Hill Academy (5-1) on September, 27 and they will need to win that game to stay in contention. JDA has already defeated Holly Hill Academy. In the big win over the Cross Schools, running back Nassir Void (5-11, 200) got the Raiders on the board first with an 18-yard TD run with 8:56 left in the first period to give his team a 6-0 lead. At the 6:09 mark of the opening period Void scored on an 8-yard run and Colson Loadholt’s two-point run made the score 14-0. After recovering the onside kick, Void scored on first down on a 44-yard run and Loadholt’s two-point conversion run made it 22-0 with 5:36 left in the first period. The Cross Schools scored the first of their two touchdowns on a 21-yard run by Griffin Campuzano . The PAT failed and the score was 22-6 with 39.6 seconds left in the first period. In the second period JDA scored five TD’s to lead 58-12 at the half. With 11:03 left in the second period, RB James Grubbs scored on a 60-yard run to make the score 28-6 after the conversion failed. Sophomore DB Reece Still then literally stole the ball out of a Cross School’s receiver’s hands and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown four plays later to make it 36-6 after Peyton Payne’s two-point conversion run with 8:59 left in the second period. At the 7:09 mark of the second period JDA made it 44-6 when Void scored on a two-yard run and Loadholt passed to Payne to complete the two-point conversion. The Cross Schools scored their final touchdown of the game on an 81-yard pass play from QB Trent Lutchfield to Luke Fulda with 4:40 left in the first half. The conversion failed. JDA answered quickly on their next possession when Loadholt hit Payne on a 54-scoring pass with 3:52 left in the half. Loadholt also passed to Payne for a two- point conversion to make the score 52-12. JDA scored their final time of the first half on a 60-yard run by junior Dalton Nix with 11.9 seconds left to make the score 58-12 at the half. A running clock was kept for the entire second half. Loadholt scored on a 60-yard pick-six with 8:33 left in the game to make it 64-12 and then a 63-yard TD run with 1:19 left in the game closed out the scoring for a 70-12 JDA win. The Cross School is head coached by Jared Shaw . Coming into the game with the Cross School's Loadholt was the top passer having completed 8-0f-23 passes for 167 yards and three TD’s. The bread and butter of JDA is running the ball. Their top three rushers before the game with the Cross School were Loadholt with 49 carries for 538 yards and 11 TD’s while Void had 502 yards on 57 carries and seven TD”s. Grubbs was next with 358 yards on 64 carries and four TD’s. Still was the top receiver with four catches for 83 yards and a TD. Void had four catches for 58 yards. The top JDA tacklers on defense included: DB Loadholt (45), MLB Payne (30) DL Nolan Craig (28), LB Landon Williams (25), LB Tanner Williams (27), DL Void (27), and DB Still (16). Still and Loadholt lead the team in interceptions with six and five respectively. Void has two sacks. Senior Keaton Crouch has contributed 8 tackles also. The Raiders OL consist of senior leader Landon Williams , a solid baseball prospect, who can play guard or center, along with Cole Creech and Fischer Robinson seeing time at the guard slots. Bryson Livingston got a starting spot in the OL against the Cross School. Payne is the starting TE and a next level prospect along with Reece Still at the other end. Riley Todd also sees time as a receiver along with Loadholt when he is not the starting QB. Void, Nix, and Grubbs share most of the time at running back. Loadholt, Still and Nix have all shared time at QB this season. Coach Reitenour is assisted by Matt Lightsey , Marc Loadholt , Johnny Calloway and Mitchell Webster .

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Bluffton — With an 11-1 win over the Cross School at Bluffton High on May, 14 the Jefferson Davis Academy Raiders softball team (14-7) won the school’s first girl’s state title in any sport, since the basketball team won gold 19 years ago, sweeping the series in two games to claim the SCISA Class A championship. The dog pile on top of senior pitcher Reagan Still , at the end of the game, exemplified all the raw emotion that had gone into this historic season, and fulfilled a pledge that head coach Bart Owens had made to the team, in the team huddle, after the Raiders were swept in two games against Holly Hill Academy last season. “The night that we lost to Holly Hill at JDA last season I told the team that if everybody comes to work and does their job that we have the pitcher and the catcher and everything in place for us to win a state championship this season,” said Coach Owens. “I told them we just have to go get it done. “After three innings we decided as a coaching staff we were going to small ball and see how we could do and we were able to follow that up with some hits and from that point on the pressure was on them,” said Coach Owens. “We made great plays on defense, put the ball in play, ran the bases well, and we just did everything the way you are supposed to in this game. “There was no better way to send out Reagin Still than with a state championship,” said Coach Owens. “She is the best pitcher I’ve ever coached at JDA and she has been the main pitcher in our softball program since the 8 th grade. I couldn’t be happier for her and those final two strike-outs in the final inning were just fantastic.” The only other senior on the JDA team is third baseman Gylian Googe who came on strong, playing her best softball of the season during the playoffs. Still, who is headed to Florence-Darlington Tech to play softball, told the HSSR from the field, “I have never been prouder of this team,” she said. “This was a goal of ours all season. It’s just a proud moment for the whole team. My goal is to keep improving on my pitching and to get faster and faster.” Still has been named the HSSR-SCISA Class A Player of the Year by the HSSR . Joining Still on the HSSR-SCISA Class A all-state softball team will be catcher Kinlee Ray , center fielder Carrie Lynn Loadholt , infielder Sydney Owens and Googe. After three scoreless innings Still appeared locked into a pitcher’s dual with Savannah Hollings of the Cross School. However, JDA put up six runs in the top of the fourth inning to break the game wide-open. Kaylee Jackson led off the JDA, in the 4 th , with a single followed by an infield hit from Jamilynn Mock . Both runners advanced on a sac bunt from junior Madeline Respass . Two batters later, Elie Fogle’s infield hit scored Jackon to put JDA up 1-0 while also loading the bases. Catcher Kinlee Ray was up next and her single scored Mock to make it 2-0. A third run came in on a passed ball from courtesy runner Esme Montejano . Junior Rynn Fickling then singled in Fogle to make it 4-0 and Still singled in Ray to make it 5-0. Then, on a head’s up play, Fickling stole home for the sixth and final run of the JDA 4 th inning. In the bottom of the 5 th the Stingrays scored their only run of the game. Alaysia Hollings led off with an infield single and later scored on an RBI single by third baseman Bethany Carson . JDA added five insurance runs in the 6 th inning to go up 11-1. They produced these runs on four singles by Riley York , Fickling, Googe and Jackson along with two bases loaded walks while Owens and York were batting. Still had 8 strike-outs and allowed 9 hits during the game with no walks issued. JDA pounded out 12 hits as a team. After the game Cross School head coach Robert Hollings told the HSSR , “We have only been a varsity program for two years, so I am very proud of my team making it into the finals,” said Coach Hollings. “We only have two seniors on the team and most of my players are 9 th graders. We hope to be back in the finals again next year.” Coach Hollings has three daughters on the team who also play softball year-round. They are center fielder Alaysia Hollings , pitcher Savannah Hollings , and catcher Sydney Hollings .

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.

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.