Carolina Forest gets back on track with rout of rival Socastee

Though careful not to diminish the effort of Conway on Tuesday night, Carolina Forest girls basketball coach Stacy Hughes also acknowledged her team did not put forth its best foot in the game, a 19-point win for the Tigers.

With the memory of the defeat still fresh in Hughes’ mind as well as that of her team, the best remedy in fact was a simple one — get back on the floor.

What a difference a few days makes.

Hungry to return to their winning ways, the Panthers took out their frustrations Thursday night on rival Socastee, claiming a 61-35 victory.

“It felt good,” Hughes said. “We kind of felt like that, not that it was a fluff game Tuesday, but we needed to redeem ourselves. Our transition defense was so bad, and watching the film I was really disappointed and I got into our kids about that.

“We had something to prove tonight. There was a goal for us to hold Socastee to 40 points, and we did that … it feels good.”

In addition to placing an emphasis on transition defense, Hughes also drilled the point home that her team must fare better on the boards.

Alexis Tomlin didn’t need a reminder, continuing her strong play against the Braves, pulling down 18 rebounds to go with her 22 points.

While the Panthers’ junior standout made her presence felt in the post, guard Cheyenne Pyles did her part on the perimeter, scoring 20 points in the game. For the game, Pyles knocked down three 3-pointers.

According to Socastee girls basketball coach Kelly Lewis, her team was rather confident coming into the game, winners of three straight. But apparently, the Braves caught Carolina Forest on a bad night.

“Credit to them, they had a good team effort,” she said. “We felt like we were well prepared, and they just execute at a very high level. You have to play good defense if you want to hang with them.”

Shalya Baldwin was the lone Socastee player in double figures with 17 points.

With the win, the Panthers move to 12-5 on the season, 4-1 in Region VI-5A play. Though a game behind Conway for the league lead, Hughes still believes better is on the horizon for her squad.

“Our goal is to win region, and I think we still have the tools to make it happen,” she said.

Conway 39, South Florence 37

Was it Tuesday’s resounding victory over Carolina Forest? Or could it have been a simple matter of her team coming out flat?

Whatever it was, Shamae Hemingway found it a tad hard to believe it was her Conway girls basketball team on the floor Thursday night at South Florence.

Fortunately for the Tigers, they were able to flip the switch just in time.

Lanaejha Evans’ steal and score as time expired allowed Conway to escape South Florence with a 39-37 victory.

With the win, the Tigers remain undefeated in Region VI-5A, a game ahead of Carolina Forest.

“I don’t know what it was, but we certainly weren’t ourselves,” Hemingway said. “It’s something we definitely cannot afford going into the second round of region play. But to get this win, we had to scratch and claw for everything we got.”

Conway had no answer for the Bruins’ Morgan Perkins, who scored 25 of her team’s 37 points. For a team that prides itself on effort and energy, seeing her secure rebounds with such ease was a tad disconcerting, Hemingway said.

“She killed us on the boards,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to be happy when one person is killing you, and she’s picking up all the trash around the basket.”

However, the Tigers did just enough, getting 14 points from MeMe Williams and 11 from Neci Hemingway. Evans also had 10 points and four steals in a winning effort.

This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 11:32 PM with the headline "Carolina Forest gets back on track with rout of rival Socastee."