Florence Christian girls enter SCISA AAA state tournament on a roll

Florence – The Florence Christian School girls basketball team may have stumbled a bit

coming out of the gate for the 2024-25 season, but it is closing the year in very fast fashion.

           After a 2-game losing streak in mid-January left the Eagles with a 7-8 overall record, they have reeled off seven straight victories to improve to 14-8. More importantly, they went 7-1 in SCISA Region 3-AAA to share the region crown with Pee Dee Academy.

FCS lost its region opener on the road against Pee Dee 37-25. The next time they met, Florence

Christian beat the Golden Eagles, ranked second in the High School Sports Report AA girls poll, 46-29.

           “Pee Dee is a very good team,” veteran head coach Neil Minton said a week ago. “I think it gives us a lot of confidence that we can compete at a high level, and it puts us in much better position. If we win out we will be co-region champs and that is exciting for our girls.”

           FCS was scheduled to play in the region tournament before the start of the state tournament on February 14-15.

          The Eagles went through their struggles when their top player, Emerson Poston, was out with an injury for a month. It was a tough situation at the time, but Minton thinks it helped his team in the long run.

“Not only was it difficult to play without her, but it was tough with other players establishing

different roles,” he said. “She is back and we are better with her but also think we improved in her

absence. Now we have had some time to get back on track to our teamwork before she was hurt.”

Poston, a sophomore who missed six games, leads FCS in scoring at 8.9 points per game,

rebounding at 8.5, assists at 3.1 and steals at 3.9.

The second leading scorer is junior Demi Greene at 7.8 followed by junior Anna Kate Huggins

at 6.8. Huggins also grabs 5.3 rebounds to go with 3.3 steals.

           Eighth-grader Bailey Johnson averages 3.6 points and 3.0 rebounds while junior Leah Lambert averages 3.5 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Other key contributors are Elise Hicks, the only senior on the roster, and sophomores Lana

Claire Johnson, Charlotte Grainger and Lyla Broach.

Minton said his message to his team as it prepares for the postseason is a simple one.

“Just keep working hard. Play for Him and play for each other. We have a great group of young

people, so we will prepare our best and be ready.”