Several
area basketball teams aren’t waiting for the full opening to the 2012 season to
get underway.
The
Socastee girls basketball team is again playing host to the Lady Braves Sand
& Hoops Invitational this week. The tournament, which kicks off today,
also includes area teams St. James, Carolina Forest, Myrtle Beach, Georgetown
and Waccamaw, as well as Mullins and Cheraw.
Cheraw, which appeared in the Class AA state playoff quarterfinals a year ago, is attempting to repeat as the Sand & Hoops champion. However, this year's event has doubled in number of teams to eight.
Our primary story this morning on Socastee's Lower State semifinal game against fellow unbeaten Hartsville couldn't contain everything that was worthy of print.
Following at-length interviews with both coaches - Socastee's Tim Renfrow and Hartsville's Jeff Calabrese - there was so much more. Consider this a notebook emptier. If for no other reason, this game certainly deserves it.
This game is the only one this weekend between undefeated teams. That goes for all four classes and all seven playoff divisions.
Now, courtesy of the SCHSL ruling eliminating Goose Creek from the playoffs, we're back up to three. And the on-field action has the potential to outweigh the non-game action this week. Between the high school league's decision and all the noise attached to it, that would be a strong week.
Either way, all three games are expected to be jam-packed. Whether you're headed to Bluffton, Dillon or Socastee, give yourself some extra time.
What better way to wrap our season-long Grand Strand Weekly Web Chat than to give out a set of awards for area teams, players and coaches.
As part of the series, we handed out some proverbial hardware to our favorites from the 2012 high school football season.
But, of course, the year isn't done for three area schools. Socastee has its much-awaited showdown with Hartsville, Loris will head to Dillon and now - courtesy of the South Carolina High School League's ruling this week - Conway is officially back in the playoffs and will make the long trip to Bluffton.
Several more Grand Strand athletes have finalized plans to sign with various colleges.
Aynor softball player Shelby Culler will sign this afternoon with NCAA Division-II Mars Hill in North Carolina. As a junior last year, Culler was 13-8 on the mound and led the Blue Jackets to the Class AA Lower State softball tournament. She also batted .353 on the season with four home runs and 18 RBI. She was named to the all-region team for the fourth consecutive season.
On Monday, several other area signing ceremonies are slated to take place.
Conway
baseball players Jordan Gore and G.K. Young have officially signed with their
respective colleges, something the pair did Wednesday.
Gore
followed through on his verbal commitment to South Carolina while Young stuck
with a verbal he made to Coastal Carolina nearly 18 months ago. For the pair of
Tigers, it was the next step in what has already been two outstanding prep
careers.
“They’ve
both been very solid the whole time,” Conway coach Anthony Carroll said of the
two players honoring their college commitments. “I don’t think either of them considered
anybody else. I think both programs are getting very good players.”
Conway's football team had come to grips with its season being over. However, by Wednesday, the Tigers could be back in the Class AAAA
football playoffs.
South Carolina High School League Associate Commissioner Dru Nix confirmed to The Sun News earlier news reports that Goose Creek had been disqualified for the use of an ineligible player. When asked about fact that two teams have now been kicked out of the playoffs and another school (Byrnes) was considered for punishment, Nix said: "As always, we educate. It’s up to the schools to
follow the rules. They have to abide by them."
It's the second round of the playoffs in the state's lower three classes, and already you can tell that everyone knows they are in the thick of it.
Socastee, Myrtle Beach, Loris and Aynor all have a chance to continue what have been great seasons to this point tonight against various opponents. For Conway, who heads to the state's overall No. 1 team, Goose Creek, tonight is about something else: Getting star quarterback Mykal Moody a playoff victory for the first time in his career.
We're down to five Grand Strand football teams still playing. Four did not qualify for the postseason, and four more were eliminated in the first week of the postseason last Friday.
But unlike the last few seasons, there is a legitimate shot that someone other than Myrtle Beach could be the last team standing.
The Seahawks have a tough road ahead of them, continuing with this week's second-round game at Hanahan. Meanwhile, Socastee and Loris have much more favorable match-ups. Conway, well, the Tigers are preparing for easily their toughest game of the year.
We're down to what looks like our final two Weekly Web Chats.
Jeff Zell from WBTW News 13, Matt Parris of ESPN Radio Myrtle Beach and I took 20 minutes and went playoff-riffic for you. We talked about what could have gone wrong at Carvers Bay, the tall task ahead of Conway and how four teams from the Grand Strand could still be playing next week.
The Tigers, Socastee, Myrtle Beach, Loris and Aynor all received plenty of attention.
Ian Guerin has been covering sports in Myrtle Beach since 2005 and in South Carolina since 2004. In that time, he has served as a reporter on the college and high school beats at multiple publications. You can reach him directly via ian@ianguerin.com.
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Have a question about the Tigers, Seahawks, Bulldogs, Chiefs or your favorite team? E-mail Ian your questions at ian@ianguerin.com and he will answer them here on the blog.
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