Myrtle Beach boys, girls sweep Georgetown

Craig Martin preached patience.

With his team serving a one-year playoff ban last season, the Myrtle Beach boys basketball team knew that a handful of seniors would have just one more chance to make this season count. Now, the Seahawks are within striking distance of not only returning to the playoffs, but hosting a game there, as well.

That much is possible after Martin’s squad used a monster third quarter to overcome a poor first half and defeated Georgetown 63-51 Tuesday night.

“It started three years ago with these seniors, when they were sophomores,” Martin said. “They committed to something a little different. It took a lot of effort outside of the season, working on their own and improving their game.

“They bought in. They committed to playing through all the adversity that we’ve been through.”

Courtesy of the victory over Georgetown, Myrtle Beach (12-11 overall, 6-3 Region VIII-AAA) will have that chance at more than simply going back to the playoffs. The Seahawks will play at North Myrtle Beach on Thursday. If they win there and St. James loses at home to Socastee, Myrtle Beach will clinch second place in the region. If both Myrtle Beach and St. James win, those two squads will face off Friday at Socastee. The winner gets the region’s No. 2 seed and the playoff game.

But to think the Seahawks are in that position after what happened last year is impressive. Myrtle Beach was banned from the playoffs after it was discovered the team used some unsanctioned preseason practices.

It reverberated some to this season, when players were still getting used to each other and their roles. The Seahawks started 1-3 and looked like it might go two seasons without a postseason berth.

“Last year was basically a warm-up season to prepare for this year,” senior Tramond Wilson said. “I know we started off slow [this year]. We had our ups and downs. Now, it’s time to cruise. It’s time to see what we’re really about, to see if we can make that push for state.”

In many ways, Tuesday’s victory over Georgetown was a microcosm of much of the season. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 33-22 halftime lead, much in part to 16 first-half Myrtle Beach fouls. Georgetown (11-10, 2-7) converted 16-of-21 trips to the free-throw line and held the double-digit advantage.

The third quarter, though, was all Myrtle Beach.

The Seahawks outscored Georgetown 30-11 in the third and then made sure it stuck.

“We’ve had nights like that where we’ve really struggled putting the basketball in the hoop,” Martin said. “It doesn’t surprise me the way we played defensively… It’s not surprising to see 30 points. It’s not surprising to see eight points or four points, which we’ve done.”

Erasing thoughts of last season’s quick end to the year would be made significantly easier if Myrtle Beach trends toward Tuesday’s third quarter.

“It was hard,” Wilson said of last season’s 5-12 finish. “We had some inexperienced guys – guys who came from football and didn’t have much basketball [experience].”

Next week, many of those same players are going to add postseason experience – and possibly home playoff experience.

• GEORGETOWN (51) – Justin Wright 3, Tevin Johnson 12, A.J. Walker 10, Anthony Blair 3, Stephan Cuttino 2, Marquise Bessellein 10, Charlie McGirt 11.

• MYRTLE BEACH (63) – E.J. Goings 13, Tryone Sutton 6, Tramond Wilson 21, T.J. Jones 13, Nolin Butler 3, Emaray Johnson 5, Bert Mack 2.

• 3-point goals: Georgetown 1 (Justin Wright); Myrtle Beach 2 (Nolin Butler, Emaray Johnson). Team fouls: GT 19, MB None. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.

• Records: Georgetown 11-10, 2-7; Myrtle Beach 12-11, 6-3.

MB girls hold on

The Myrtle Beach girls team kept its slim chances for a sixth straight Region VIII-AAA alive by holding off Georgetown 44-40. The Seahawks, which trailed by four points entering the final quarter, got a strong showing from guard Khadijah Sessions.

The senior finished with 32 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to push Myrtle Beach to 19-4 overall and 7-2 in region play. Myrtle Beach will need to beat North Myrtle Beach and get some help from Socastee on Thursday to keep the streak going.

The Braves, who play at region-leader St. James, would need to beat the Sharks in order to knock both of the top teams to 8-2. Per region agreement, there will be no tie-breakers used to determine playoff seeding. Instead, all playoff berths will be determined by a play-in game, to be played Friday at Socastee.

St. James beat Wilson 59-47 Tuesday night.

However, it’s also more convoluted than that for the Seahawks. Should they lose to North Myrtle Beach on Thursday, those two teams will play a rematch for second place in the region on Friday.

Georgetown (9-8, 1-8) was officially eliminated from playoff contention with its loss to Myrtle Beach.

It took all of Sessions’ scoring to get Myrtle Beach the victory. After missing a pair of free throws late in the game, she knocked down a fall-away jumper with 1:20 remaining to give her team a three-point cushion.

Myrtle Beach then caused a turnover on the other end.

Sessions, who moments earlier missed a pair of free throws to increase her team’s lead, knocked down a fall-away jumper with 1:20 remaining to push the Seahawk lead to three. From there, the Seahawks held off the Bulldogs.

• GEORGETOWN (40) – Raven Smith 7, Keona White 3, Taziya Moody 7, Jamia Porcha 3, Tyran Gilliard 1, Tyneia Keith 2, Moet Spann 4, Justis Evans 13.

•  MYRTLE BEACH (44) – Khadijah Sessions 32, Christiana Myers 2, Tyrenda Sutton 6, Martina Ballestero 2, Jessica Roberts 2.

• 3-point goals: Georgetown 1 (Smith); Myrtle Beach none. Team fouls: GT 17, MB x14. Fouled out: Taziya Moody. Technical fouls: None.

• Records: Georgetown 9-8, 1-8; Myrtle Beach 18-4, 6-2.