Myrtle Beach girls hope to end Strand's skid in holiday tournament

MYRTLE BEACH -- Teams from the Grand Strand are invited to play annually in the Crescent Bank Holiday Invitational and Beach Ball Classic primarily to give the events a local flavor.

Their chances of winning a tournament championship against nationally recognized programs are usually squelched by the time the first round of games are completed.

The Myrtle Beach High girls are more than just token participants this year.

The Seahawks have a realistic chance to be the first Grand Strand team to win either holiday tournament in the Crescent Bank's 12 years or Beach Ball's 30 years.

"They have a chance now to win this tournament," said tournament director and Myrtle Beach mayor John Rhodes. "But this will be their biggest test of the year to the state tournament. If you're going to meet your match you'll meet it here."

The 16-team tournament features three teams ranked in the top 25 in the country by the MaxPreps website, including No. 5 Norcross (Ga.).

But the Seahawks are also considered to be among the best teams in the country by many. The Sporting News named its preseason 20 girls teams to watch in the U.S. and the Seahawks were among them.

"I think the more we play and more wins we get the more exciting it will be," Myrtle Beach girls coach Brian Kiper said. "If you're playing for the championship that would be the ultimate and I think that's what our girls want to do. Obviously it would be more exciting to win."

The Seahawks have perhaps the best chance to win a holiday hoops tournament title since the 1983 Myrtle Beach boys lost in the championship game of the Beach Ball Classic.

The event invited only eight teams then and a team had to win two games to get to the final. The Seahawks defeated W.T. Woodson (Va.) 71-70 and Columbia Eau Claire 66-63 before falling to Archbishop Molloy (Queens, N.Y.) in a close final, 58-56.

"Other than that, nobody has even gotten a sniff." Rhodes said.

Myrtle Beach (3-0) hasn't lost since last year's opener in the Crescent Bank Invitational. The Seahawks were within three points of Butler (N.C.), which was ranked 10th in the nation by ESPN at the time, with less than a minute to play before falling 54-45.

The Seahawks won three other games in the tournament to win the consolation bracket and went on to win the Class AAA state championship and finish 29-1.

The Seahawks returned all five starters this year, including heralded guards Khadijah Sessions and Shatia Cole, wing Keyaurna Wilson and forwards D.J. Hunter and Danielle Cooper.

"With the season we had last year and everybody we have back, we feel we're a good team," Kiper said. "We look forward to this type of thing ... because we enjoy the competition and the challenges. We need it and we need to see where we are."

As expected, a title won't come easily for the Seahawks.

Other teams in the tournament ranked besides Norcross (Ga.) by MaxPreps are Fayette County (Ga.) at No. 22 and reigning S.C. Class AAAA state champion Goose Creek at No. 24. The team Goose Creek beat in the finals, Spring Valley, is also among a formidable set of S.C. teams.

"The girls tournament is so strong, it's the strongest it has ever been," Rhodes said. "There's not a bracket they could go in that is easy. They're going to have to meet one of [the ranked teams] one way or another, and they'll have to go through undefeated teams to get to them."

The three teams ranked by MaxPreps are all in the opposite bracket of the Seahawks, so they're likely to meet one of them in the final, if they reach it.

The tournament tips off with four games today beginning at 4 p.m. and including Socastee vs. Norcross in the second game at 5:45 p.m. The championship game is set for 3 p.m. Thursday.

Myrtle Beach's opening game against Nansemond River from the Virginia Beach, Va., area isn't until the nightcap Monday. Game time is scheduled for 8:45 p.m., and there are five games before it.

Nansemond River features senior guard and four-year varsity performer Briana McClain and 6-foot-2 junior center Delisia Sharpe, who is averaging 18 points and 17 rebounds through her team's first four games - all wins. "We don't see that a lot," Kiper said. "We don't have anybody over 6-foot, so that's something we'll have to do is defend their post player."

The Seahawks lost to Nansemond River in their Crescent Bank opener in 2008.

"Right now we're looking to win Game 1," Kiper said. "We haven't done that the last two years and we want to stay out of the consolation bracket. A lot of it depends on how good these teams are and we won't know that until we get out there and compete against them."

Tournament organizers hope a Myrtle Beach run will add to interest in the event. "There's just a great opportunity there to get a chance to come out and see a team of this caliber play against some of the best teams in the country," Rhodes said. "How do you not come out and support your team?"