Hot shooting night propels Seahawks to trouncing of St. James

Exam week can bring out the best and the worst in students, particularly those also focused on athletics as well.

This far from his first rodeo, Myrtle Beach boys basketball coach Craig Martin was somewhat concerned with how his team would respond, with what is at stake on the hardwood and more importantly in the classroom.

While report cards have yet to render their final results for the past semester, the Seahawks made sure to not simply skirt by in their second Region VII-4A test at St. James.

Still seething from a loss at top-ranked Wilson last week, Myrtle Beach cruised to an easy 73-46 win over an undermanned St. James squad Thursday night.

A 25-2 spurt by the Seahawks, starting late in the first and spanning well into the second, turned what seemed to be a competitive contest into a blowout. According to Martin, after the way his team practiced this past week, he had a good feeling walking into “The Shark Tank.”

“We had a good week of practice, which is surprising considering it is exam week and it’s typically not a good one,” he said. “We came in really focused on what we wanted to do, and what we wanted to prepare for. They did a good job of focusing on what needed to be done, and got out there and executed.”

Myrtle Beach (8-7, 1-1 Region VII-4A) was particularly effective from deep range, knocking down eight 3-pointers in the game.

“We have some pretty decent shooters, we may not always show it, but we do,” Martin said. “It’s just a matter of getting in the game and doing it, they’ve shown it in practice. Tonight, when they squared up and got comfortable, they made some nice shots.”

At one point, the Seahawks lead ballooned to 32, causing frustrations on the St. James sideline to boil over. The Sharks (6-11, 0-2 Region VII-4A) were called for two technical fouls in the game, one of which was directed at head coach Jeremy Heinold after disputing a call.

Though not wanting to talk about what transpired with referees, St. James boys coach did point blame at himself for his team’s effort.

“Myrtle Beach played at a speed we had not seen in a long time, and we did not do a good job of adjusting to it,” Heinold said. “We didn’t do a good job hanging on to the ball, didn’t do a good job of being tough, didn’t do a good job of being mentally prepared. And that’s my fault, I have to get them where they are mentally tough, I have to get them where they are physically tough and I have to get them to where if we miss a shot, we don’t pout and hold our head down.”

Myrtle Beach’s Emorie Knox led all scorers with 19 points, with Robert Swanson chipping in 15 of his own — all of which came in the first period.

Trey Myers scored 15 points to lead St. James in a losing effort.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Jennifer Dennison didn’t need some sort of fiery halftime speech. Her team’s performance in the first half Thursday night at St. James said enough.

Despite being up by a sizable margin, the Myrtle Beach girls basketball coach felt her team was not playing up to its potential.

As a result, a different group of Seahawks took the floor in the second half, outscoring the host Sharks 23-1 in the third quarter, en route to a 59-20 win.

“We just came out and played relaxed,” Dennison said. “We told them they needed to pick up the defensive intensity at halftime, and we did a better job in the second half. So you know, a win’s a win.”

Kiana Adderton was steady throughout, scoring 19 points and pulling down seven rebounds in a winning effort. Nia Sumpter also reached double figures, racking up 15 points and eight rebounds.

Abigail Rumpf led the way for St. James with 6 points.

This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 11:51 PM with the headline "Hot shooting night propels Seahawks to trouncing of St. James."