Three area high school baseball teams will open their 2013 slate close to home starting Thursday.
Myrtle Beach will play host to the Baseball at the Beach tournament, and area squads Socastee and Aynor will join the Seahawks, as well as three out-of-area squads - Northwestern, Eastside and Fort Mill.
The regular season for all spring sports around the state officially commences Monday. However, most sports allow for a preseason tournament that counts toward regular-season records.
Carvers Bay is one victory away from playing for the Class A boys basketball title.
But Saturday's Lower State title game against Whale Branch isn't going to be any walk in the park. The Warriors spent much of the year ranked as the top team in the state and have only three losses all season.
Beaufort Gazette/Hilton Head Island Packet reporter Stephen Fastenau has been covering Whale Branch all season. He'll also be at Saturday's game.
He took some time to answer a few questions on Whale Branch's rise toward the top and keys to the game.
The Coastal Basketball Coaches Association released its All-CBCA 2012-2013 teams Tuesday morning.
The organization, a conglomeration of 13 boys coaches from around the Grand Strand, named North Myrtle Beach senior guard Jaquan Grissett as its Player of the Year. Grissett, who averaged more than 17 points for game, led the Chiefs to the Region VII-AAA title before falling in the first round of the playoffs to Crestwood. Grissett was also named the region player of the year and earned a spot on the Class AAA All-State squad.
Joining Grissett on the CBCA first team were Conway forward Reggie Bonner and three guards - Myrtle Beach's Nolin Butler, Caleb Duggan of St. James and Carvers Bay senior and Class A All-State Player of the Year Da'Shaun Aiken.
The dreams of making it to Saturday's Lower State champsionships in Florence are still alive for five area teams.
Via games Thursday or Friday, the Myrtle Beach and Carvers Bay boys and North Myrtle Beach, Socastee and Carvers Bay girls each need just one more victory to reach the neutral-site games for the Lower State titles.
So far, all five games - all set for either Monday or Tuesday - have remained as 7 p.m. start times. Should any of those change, we'll update them here.
There's a possibility of snow on the Grand Strand this weekend.
People are a half-step away from stocking up on bottled water and canned goods. I'm sure somewhere, there's a conversation about getting trucks ready with the salt-and-sand mixture for roads. Yes, people are most certainly about to lose their minds.
It's the only explanation for Jude Hunt and Ginger Ford openly pulling for their biggest rival tonight.
Eight high-school seniors from the Grand Strand were named to this season's South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association All-State teams, including Carvers Bay guard Da'Shaun Aiken, who was honored as the Class A Player of the Year.
Aiken led the Bears to the Region VII-A title and then a win in the first round of the state playoffs Tuesday night.
Joining Aiken on the boys side were Conway guard Reggie Bonner, North Myrtle Beach's Jaquan Grissett and Myrtle Beach guard Nolin Butler.
On the girls side, North Myrtle Beach placed two players - India Farmer and Taylor Allman - on the Class AAA All-State squad. Myrtle Beach senior and UNC-Charlotte signee Tanisha Brown was also selected to the Class AAA squad.
With the first two days of the state basketball playoffs in the books, the Grand Strand is down to nine teams still in contention for a hoops championship.
Wednesday's game will complete the first round, with the Conway, Waccamaw and Andrews boys teams playing their postseason openers. The Tigers will be at home against Aiken at 7 p.m., while Waccamaw and Andrews will both be on the road. Should any of those teams advance, their second-round games would be Saturday.
On Thursday, the second round commences with girls squads from North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, Socastee and Carvers Bay.
The final regular-season statewide basketball poll looks awfully similar to most of the year, at least in regards to the three area teams in the rankings.
The North Myrtle Beach girls again led the way, entering the state playoffs with the No. 4 spot in Class AAA. The Chiefs defeated Darlington Monday night to move on to Thursday's second-round home game against Hilton Head.
The North Myrtle Beach boys, who play at home tonight against Crestwood, remained at No. 9 in the Class AAA rankings despite dropping last week's regular-season finale at Myrtle Beach.
As
expected, the strong finish to last spring’s softball season transferred to
strong local representation statewide pre-season state rankings.
Four
area teams were included in the South Carolina Softball Coaches poll, released
Monday evening. Among the expected early contenders for state titles were
Carolina Forest (No. 3, Class AAAA), Georgetown (No. 5, Class AAA), Aynor (No.
8, Class AA) and Green Sea-Floyds (No. 3, Class A).
Those
should surprise few, if any, followers of the sport in the area.
Last fall, football players around the Grand
Strand, state and country were subject to a new rule that made it mandatory for
players whose helmets had come off to sit out the next play.
The move followed increased players safety
standards, primarily based on an increase in concussion awareness in the sport.
However, the National Federation of State
High School Associations – the governing body of prep athletics – added more
specific language to rules that for the most part must be universally adopted
by state boards, including the South Carolina High School League.
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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