Prep Talk

It's time to sign off

I just wanted to let all of you guys know that I'm changing jobs within our department. I'm about to begin anchoring our Coastal Carolina coverage, meaning my time as The Sun News' high school beat writer is finished. I'll still have some involvement with high schools, especially with recruiting and other topics when my help is needed. Sports editor Shane Bowen, who can be reached at sbowen@thesunnews.com, will organize our high school coverage this spring. You have helped turn this into one of the most successful blogs on this site. Posts may be scarce as we transition over the next few weeks, but the blog will continue to exist. Thanks for the help and the readership over the past 19 months. Take care.

Sessions is a rare talent

I've taken plenty of criticism for my declaration that Myrtle Beach quarterback Everett Golson is a rare breed. Well, here is another one for another Myrtle Beach underclassman. Guard Khadijah Sessions is truly special. We all saw the potential as a seventh- and then as an eighth-grader, but she's taken her game to another level this season, her freshman year.

5 named all-state; Times released for all-star games

Five area basketball players have been named all-state by the S.C. Basketball Coaches Association, and the Carolinas' best players are coming to the beach next month.

Aynor's Marcus Smith, Carolina Forest's Chris Ford and Lakeitha Alston, Georgetown's Kinard Gadsden-Gilliard and Myrtle Beach's Khadijah Sessions were honored on Wednesday for their play this season. Plans have also been finalized to hold the Carolinas All-Star Basketball Classic in Myrtle Beach next month.

No horsing around next fall

I could never figure out why horse-collar tackles were illegal in college and professional football but they were not banned in the high school game. That will likely change next fall, however. The National Federation of State High School Associations, which oversees the high school football rule book, announced changes last week that makes the horse-collar tackle - taking a player down from behind by grabbing the inside of his shoulder pads behind the neck or pulling on the back of his jersey - illegal in the prep game. Such a tackle will now result in a 15-yard, personal-foul penalty from the end of the play.

More all-region teams

Basketball playoff predictions

Before the high school basketball playoffs begin tonight, I thought I'd take a stab at predicting how far our area teams will go:

Region VII-AAA basketball awards announced

Myrtle Beach's Khadijah Sessions and Georgetown's Kinard Gadsden-Gilliard have been named Region VII-AAA Players of the Year.

Four from area named North-South wrestling all-stars

Four area wrestling standouts will participate in next month's newly formatted S.C. Wrestling Coaches Association North-South All-Star Classic. Loris' Maurice Morris and Terrence Cox, Myrtle Beach's Caleb Desjardins and North Myrtle Beach's Taylor Collins received invites to the event, which will be held March 5-7 in North Myrtle Beach.

Random thoughts on prep basketball playoffs

The South Carolina basketball playoff brackets were released on Saturday. The full brackets are posted at the end of this post. Here are some initial thoughts on the pairings involving area teams:

Loris loses bid for third straight title

By Josh Hoke
jhoke@thesunnews.com

COLUMBIA | Fifteen minutes after the final duals match of his Loris wrestling career, Maurice Morris sat with his face buried in his hands. The tears had barely stopped flowing since the match ended and were starting to form a small puddle near his feet.

Many of his teammates, especially the team's other five seniors, were mired in similar acts of mourning around the gym. It was obvious the Lions learned on Saturday that the emotional low of losing in the state championship is much more extreme than the emotional high of winning it.

The Lions bid for a third straight Class AA title was squashed by upstart Abbeville, who weathered an early storm, surged ahead in the middle weights and then held on for the school's first title with a 31-22
win at Ridge View High School.