Page 4 - HSSR Demo

aaaa Girls Basketball Feature
Page 4 December 31, 2018 THE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT
Wilson sits as top-ranked AAAA girls team in SC
From Staff reports
sound as it gets. Gregg controls the paint, but she can shoot off the elbow. Is there a better one-two combination any- where else in AAAA?
Moncks Corner—The past two sea- sons in AAAA girls’ basketball have to- tally belonged to North augusta as the Jackets won back-to-back state titles under the leadership of HSSR Miss bas- ketball amari Young who has taken her awesome talents to the next level.
Every classification has a potential spoiler and that team could very well the North Myrtle Beach Chiefs in AAAA. They are 11-2 as of January 15th and playing very good basketball.
Head coach Crystal Cummings stepped down to pursue her master’s de- gree and she recently told the HSSR she hoped to be working in Aiken County school administration soon, so coaching does not appear to be in her future. Assis- tant coach al Young has taken over the program so the system that has worked so well will remain in place.
The Chiefs have won 12 of their first 15 games heading into play on January 15 and second-year coach Brooke Smith could not be more pleased.
However, we feel like Wilson (13-1) led by North Carolina bound loyal McQueen and Georgia tech bound post player D’asia Gregg as the number one team in AAAA girls now with North au- gust a strong number two. McQueen is the point guard that engineers the offense at Wilson and as the daughter of a high school coach she is as fundamentally
gram to 19 wins last season. “We’re defi- North Augusta should be in contention for Columbia yet again
1. Wilson
2. North Augusta 3. N. Myrtle Beach 4. South Pointe
5. Blue Ridge
10. South Aiken Sierra McCullough, South Pointe
One equalizer though has been in- juries. Georgetown signee Malcolm Wil- son had a wrist injury early in the season but is finally back to 100 per cent. Ja’Von anderson has a fracture in his wrist and two-sport standout Walyn Napper is dealing with a nagging shoulder injury. Stoneman hopes to have everyone back and ready to go to try and defend its
“He’s a quiet leader in that he doesn’t say a whole lot, but he lets his action on the court speak for themselves,” Stoneman said. “People just naturally follow him. He plays downhill and basically just outruns
Wilson has been steady. He is averag- ing 5.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and three blocks per game. But that is only part of the story as he makes it difficult for any- one to get inside and own the paint.
“Walyn is probably only playing at 50 to 55%.” Stoneman said. “But he’s such a warrior, he doesn’t want to come out of games. I trust him. I feel like he would tell me if he couldn’t go.”
HSSR AAAA Polls
“Malcolm alters a lot of shots,” Stone- man said. “He makes his presence felt on both ends. He battled that wrist injury but now that he’s healthy, he’s gotten a lot more aggressive.”
Ja’Von Benson is one of the two key transfers on the roster. The 6-8 forward has brought a toughness inside and even though there’s not a lot of shots to go around, he makes the most of his opportu- nities. He’s averaging 9.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
“I really like the way we’re playing, we’re playing really solid basketball overall,” said Smith, who led the pro-
nitely a solid basketball team and I think we’re getting better each day. This is a tight knit group. The chemistry is good. This is a good group of girls.”
dealing with a knee issue. She could pos- sibly return before the end of the season, according to Smith.
in scoring and rebounding, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. She averaged 13 points and eight rebounds last season.
The Chiefs have been without one of their top returning players, junior for- ward Jenna Berger, since the start of the season. Berger, who averaged about nine points per game last season, has been
“She’s a good player and she would have certainly helped but the important thing is getting her healthy,” Smith said. “If she can return at some point, it will help us. But are prepared to play the sea-
Sophomore Daveona Hatchell has upped her play this year as well. Hatchell averaged 9.4 points and 7.2 rebounds last season but is up to 14 points and 10 boards this season. She also rates as the team’s top shooter from beyond the arc.
HSSR AAAA Polls SCABA Top 5 Senior Girls
son out until she can play.”
Two of the team’s three seniors are in the starting lineup. Janaii Boone is aver- aging five points per game and Jer- maisha Griffin, a first-year player in the program, is adding six points per game and has taken up some of the slack with
6. Westwood Mckinley Brooks-Sumpter, AC Flora 7. Ridge View Brandi Rivers, Orangeburg-Wilk. 8. Beaufort Asia Smith, Myrtle Beach
9. Myrtle Beach Maliyah Lockett, Westwood
Ridge View chasing top ranked Westwood in AAAA boys
See Class AAAA Girls, pg. 50 aaaa Boys Basketball Feature
Berger’s twin sister, for- ward Jordan Berger, is hav- ing a solid sea- son. Jordan leads the team
By Chris Dearing
Special Contributor Columbia—Ridge View boys basket-
state title.
“We have definitely
ball coach Yerrick Stoneman has an em- barrassment of riches at the Class AAAA in Northeast Richland County.
battled the injury bug so far,” he said. “We’ve had guys out for multiple games and that has forced some other guys into ac- tion. I hope we can get healthy over these next three weeks and be ready to go once the playoffs begin.”
The Blazers, ranked second in the HSSR ranking behind top ranked Ridge View, are coming off last year’s state title run with almost the exact same team that has added pieces to possibly make them even more formidable this season.
“Everybody knew what we had com- ing back,” Stoneman said. “We had almost everyone back and then we added a cou- ple of transfer kids that has come in and produced. We have to get better moving forward but I think once the playoffs start, we’ll be there.”
As things stand, the
returners of last season
have performed as ex-
pected and the injuries
have helped the Blazers with depth.
Ridge View will enter the playoffs as a perennial favorite
Crosby James has taken over the role of leading scoring on a team that has seven guys averaging over 5 points per game. The senior is scoring 16.3 points per game and is a proven leader with is stoic demeanor.
everyone in the open court. Plus, he likes and wants to guard the other team’s best player.”
came a star in last season’s playoff run and if he can get back close to 100 per- cent, the Blazers are going to be that much more dangerous.
SCABA Top 5 Senior Boys
Napper is the second
1. Westwood
2. Ridge View 3. Greenville
4. Darlington
5. Or’burg-Wilk.
6. N. Augusta
7. Wren
8. Hartsville
9. Lakewood
10. Travelers Rest
Derrick Sinkler, AC Flora Allen Williamson, Wilson Norman Nowell, Richland NE Juwan Perdue, Lakewood Walyn Napper, Ridge View
leading scorer at 13.5 points a game but has struggled for the past month with a shoulder injury. He be-
“We wish we could get him more shots, but he does everything we ask of him,” Stoneman said. “He gives us more protection around the rim and brings his work pail out every single day.”
See Class AAAA Boys, pg. 29