Friday night hoops
BY THOMAS GRANT, JR.T&D SENIOR SPORTS WRITER Friday, January 12, 2007
Just two weeks into the new year and it’s so far offered much of the same.
The post-holiday blues have not infected the T&D Region’s two hottest teams. Defending Class A boys’ champion Calhoun County took its show to the Sunshine State and came away unscathed, while the Orangeburg-Wilkinson girls’ basketball team extended its longest winning streak in three years with two road wins over Dutch Fork and Stratford.
Another team on a roll after winning a holiday tournament was Bethune-Bowman, that is until Branchville snapped its nine-game winning streak on Tuesday. The win puts the Yellow Jackets very much in the picture for the Region 6-A championship.
Also off to a strong start in the new year is the Swansea girls’ basketball team. Since suffering their lone loss to Orangeburg-Wilkinson in the finals of the Orangeburg County Sweet 16 tournament, the Lady Tigers have won their last two games by an average margin of 50 points.
Over in SCISAA, performing double-duty has not slowed down Holly Hill Academy’s Barry Morehead. Not only does he have the boys’ basketball team riding a T&D Region-best 14-1 mark, but the Lady Raiders are 10-5 on the season as well.
With critical region matchups pitting Allendale-Fairfax against Denmark-Olar, Orangeburg-Wilkinson playing host to Goose Creek and Branchville at Baptist Hill, tonight could provide plenty of highlights for the next Friday Night Hoops.
But on to the latest edition:
Teams of the week
Boys
Branchville High School
It was one of the more rewarding seven days in recent memory for the Yellow Jackets. They went 3-0, including two Region 6-A victories over St. John’s and Bethune-Bowman. The 53-50 win over Bethune-Bowman was the third straight win in the series for Branchville after it went zero for the decade.
Girls
Lake Marion
The Lady Gators have won four straight since their semifinal loss to Swansea, including wins over ranked Class A teams Bethune-Bowman and two-time defending champion Hunter-Kinard-Tyler.
Players of the week
Boys
Chaz Williams
(Branchville)
The Yellow Jacket senior averaged 19.3 points in leading his team to three wins. In Wednesday’s highly anticipated matchup with Bethune-Bowman and All-State guard Shelton Brown, Williams led all scorers with 21 points and overcame a “Chris Webber moment” (see quotables) to hit two key free throws in the final seconds of a 53-50 victory.
Girls
Courtney Garcia
(Andrew Jackson Academy)
The Lady Confederate was a rebounding machine during a two-game stretch. A night after grabbing 15 rebounds in a win over St. Francis School, Garcia snagged 24 boards to go with 16 points in a win over Glenforest.
Hardwood heroes
(Boys)
(Girls)
Both the Calhoun County boys and Orangeburg-Wilkinson girls’ basketball teams own the T&D Region’s longest active winning streaks. The Saints enter Friday’s game against Ridge Spring-Monetta winners of 34 straight dating back to a two-point loss to Lee Central in December 2005. Meanwhile, the Bruinettes’ current 12-game winning streak is the program’s longest since the 2003-04 season when they won 17 straight enroute to reaching the Class 4-A Upper State finals.
No. 1 boy’s team in S.C.
Add www.maxpreps.com as another prep basketball source which thinks highly of the defending Class A champions. In fact, the fledging Web site has Calhoun County number one in its rankings of all South Carolina High School boys’ basketball teams. The poll’s order goes as follows:
1. Calhoun County; 2. Aiken; 3. Irmo; 4. Pinewood Prep; 5. Wilson; 6. Camden; 7. Wren; 8. Hillcrest; 9. Sumter; 10. Fort Mill
Maxpreps also ranks Orangeburg-Wilkinson guard Lateia Brailey as the state’s steals leader (68), teammates Merita Curry and Marsha Green ranked 1-2, respectively, for assists, and Lasaundra Barron second for rebounds.
Tuesday’s 102-21 win by Calhoun County over Wagener-Salley was career-win number 448 for head coach Zam Fredrick, moving him past former Eau Claire great George Glymph for 13th most all-time on the S.C. High School League boys’ basketball career wins list. He needs two wins to surpass former Traveler’s Rest head coach Joe Small to 12th all-time.
Meanwhile, Jefferson Davis Academy’s Robyne Joyner needs 10 more wins to join Calhoun County’s Oscar Dayson and Blackville-Hilda’s Farrell Zissette as the only T&D Region girls’ basketball coach to post 500 career victories.
T&D Region rankings
SCHSL TOP 5
(Boys)
1. Calhoun County
2. Denmark-Olar
3. Branchville
4. Orangeburg-Wilkinson
5. Bethune-Bowman
(Girls)
1. Orangeburg-Wilkinson
2. Swansea
3. Lake Marion
4. Bethune-Bowman
5. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler
SCISAA TOP 3
(Boys)
1. Holly Hill Academy
2. Orangeburg Prep
3. Clarendon Hall
(Girls)
1. Orangeburg Prep
2. Jefferson Davis Academy
Holly Hill Academy
“All I could think about was Chris Webber.” – Branchville senior guard Chaz Williams making reference to Webber’s 1993 Final Four folly when he called time-out with his team having none remaining, resulting in a technical foul. Against Bethune-Bowman, Williams committed a similar offense with his team leading 51-48 with 34 seconds left. He would redeem himself with two free throws to give the Yellow Jackets a 53-50 victory.
To subscribe to the print edition of The Times and Democrat, click here.
