Stags’ teams surging into second half of season

By Rob Gantt

Special to the HSSR

MONCKS CORNER – Berkeley High School’s basketball teams have been ranked inside the top 10 all winter and have backed it up with their play on the hardwood.

The Stags’s girls extended their win streak to eight games and improved to 10-2 with an exciting, 57-53 victory at First Baptist Dec. 30, to finish the Carolina Invitational with a 3-0 mark.

“It’s about some of them learning me and learning how we operate, learning the system and jelling together,” said Berkeley coach Crystal Peace, whose team is ranked No. 6 in Class 5A Div. II. “There are 12 girls on the roster. There are going to be times when you might be playing tonight, and somebody else plays the next night. It depends on how the game is flowing. I just appreciate the girls for embracing their roles and doing what we ask them to do. I tell anybody I work them hard, and they work extremely hard.”

Freshman Alaina Carter paces the Stags on the scoreboard for the season with 12 points per game, while sophomore Amani McCray and junior Demi Gray chip in more than nine points a contest. McCray leads around the glass with 7.4 boards per game, and junior Aiyanna Moses is the steals and assists leader.

Moses, sophomore Imani Levey and junior Madison Thomas all average right at seven points. Levey and Ladson grab more than four boards per game.

The Berkeley boys won their 11^th straight game Dec. 30, edging Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy.

Against ELCA, senior Cam Palmer scored a game-high 22 points, and junior Justin Suarez tallied 13 points for the Stags.

Deuce Kinloch leads in scoring and rebounding with 14.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. John Cleveland also reaches double figures in scoring at 13.3 points per game. Jordan Livingston chips in six boards and 1.7 steals per game.

“We know we’ve got to keep getting better because what we’re doing now doesn’t matter at the end of the season,” BHS coach Matt Mullins said. “Our defense has been solid since I’ve been here. I think we’ve gotten better offensively. We’re a bit deeper than we’ve been the past couple of years. Some of the guys who have come up from junior varsity have contributed, and we haven’t missed a beat.”