Not much local feel in North-South Football game

This year’s SCADA North-South All-Star Football game doesn’t have much of a local feel.

On top of only five players from the Grand Strand making the cut, Friday’s Mr. Football ceremony includes five players who played their high school ball at least 160 miles away from Myrtle Beach. None of the five have the star power of last year’s award, when high-profile South Pointe defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, now a South Carolina Gamecock, won the award over Myrtle Beach’s Everett Golson, among others.

Most everyone in the state had a pretty good idea Clowney would walk away with the hardware. This week, the guesses are a little more wide-open.

Shaq Roland from Lexington may be considered the front-runner, but not by much. The South Carolina commitment finished his season with 1,546 yards and 19 touchdowns receiving and another 305 yards and 10 touchdown on the ground. He was named to the Shrine Bowl.

Gaffney receiver Quinshad Davis has now eclipsed Roland’s numbers, courtesy of a deeper playoff run. Davis’ team is ranked as high as No. 3 nationally, and he already had 1,800 yards and 24 touchdowns prior to last week’s state championship game against Byrnes. He is also headed to the Shrine Bowl.

Two quarterbacks were named to the final five, too. Greer’s Reese Hannon fell just shy of 3,000 total yards before being knocked out of the playoffs by Fairfield Central in the first round. The other signal-caller, Blue Ridge’s Caleb Rowe threw for 2,500 yards and 33 touchdowns while rushing for 200 yards and four scores.

The lone defensive player on the list is Chesnee linebacker Nathan Moore. He piled up 156 tackles, recovered two fumbles and forced another. He also stepped in at running back because of injury and ran for 639 yards and five touchdowns on offense. Defensive players have won four of the last 16 Mr. Football awards, although Clowney powered through the historical trend last season.

Hannon and Moore will be suiting up for the North squad during Saturday’s North-South All-Star game. There, they will try to help their team continue its recent string of dominating performances.

The North squad has won 10 of the last 13 games in the series.

Practices for this week’s games are open to the public, and each team generally suits up once in the morning and again in the afternoon. A large amount of NCAA Division II and III coaches are expected to be on hand, as well. NCAA Division-I coaches are not allowed in-person recruiting outside of the players’ school or home.

Shootout By The Sea details released

The 16-team Shootout By The Sea holiday basketball tournament at North Myrtle Beach has been finalized, and the teams will take the court Dec. 21-23.

On the boys side, first-year Chiefs coach Frank Moorhead will be joined by South Carolina schools Woodmont, Clover, Summerville, Nation Ford, as well as North Carolina schools Hoggard, Covenant Day and Scotland County.

Jude Hunt’s girls team will share a bracket with South Florence, Marlboro County, Sumter, Clover, South Pointe, Nation Ford and Scotland County.

“We always try to bring in some of the top teams in and out of South Carolina,” Hunt said. “… It is a great experience for us to play against some upper-tier competition leading in to region play. In the first years, it was always very humbling for us, but we have become more and more competitive in the past few years. We are expecting our players to compete for one of the top positions in the tournament this season.”

Games will begin between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. each morning, building up to the Dec. 23 championship games, which will be played at 6 p.m. for the girls and approximately 7:30 p.m. for the boys. Tickets are $6 for a day pass.

This is the eighth year of the tournament. Clover won both divisions last December.

Hidden star about to break out

The Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach isn’t going to get much love.

Coach Darren Gore is doing his best to change that.

The Saints, a member of the South Carolina Independent School Association, have won three of the last four Class A state basketball titles. And Gore’s team has its eyes on a fourth title this season. And while the team will receive plenty of interest courtesy of playing a handful of area SCHSL teams, the player in the middle of it all may be the biggest reason hoops fans should take notice.

Junior Kendall Henry could turn out to be the most influential player on the Grand Strand, regardless of school affiliation. Through six games, the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder is averaging 24.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.7 steals and 4.2 assists per game. He had a career night Friday against King’s Academy in Florence when he dropped 30 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the blowout victory.

And while this is Henry’s third season as a starter, he’s now considered the team’s best scoring threat. Last year, he was starting among three seniors, two of whom are now playing small-college ball.

“He had almost 20 points in the state championship last year,” Gore said. “He’s always been more about getting them the ball. He’s moving into that scoring role now. He’s transitioned into that the last couple years.”

What’s odd about Henry is that his height often makes him one of the tallest players on the court. He often starts games in the post before moving back to point guard midway throughout the first quarter.

“He’s one of those kids who needs to break a sweat,” Gore said. He needs to get bumped down low to get his scoring going.”

Defensively, Henry’s job is as diverse. He’s asked to defend opposing teams’ best scorers, regardless of position. That means he could be guarding a point guard on one possession before moving back inside on the next.

That goes for the Saints’ games against some of the SCHSL teams on the schedule, too. The next such game is tonight, when Christian Academy heads to Socastee for a 7 p.m. tip. The first of two match-ups between the schools was close last year, and that was before Henry’s game started to develop into what it has become.

No doubt, the Braves will be focused heavily on the budding star.

Those who want to see Henry play have other opportunities, too. Gore’s squad will play Socastee again on Dec. 15 before a second game against Aynor the following day. The Saints will also play Green Sea-Floyds at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Dec. 27. The game will be a prelude of sorts to the Beach Ball Classic, which will start later in the day on the same court.

CBCA fab five

Henry was one of five area players named to the Coastal Basketball Coaches Association Fabulous Five from last week.

He was joined by Myrtle Beach senior Emaray Johnson, Andrews junior Harold Langley, Conway junior Mykal Moody and St. James junior Caleb Duggan.

The association, a conglomerate of high school coaches from around and near the Grand Strand, will release the weekly team each Monday afternoon. Additionally, the CBCA will announce a regular top-10 list of area teams, beginning next week.

The area schools in the organization include Myrtle Beach, Andrews, Georgetown, Socastee, North Myrtle Beach, Loris, Carvers Bay, Conway, Carolina Forest, Waccamaw, Aynor, St. James and Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach.