One more step: Myrtle Beach, Conway boys hoops teams on brink of state title game berth
Highway 501 northbound will be even more popular over the weekend, as both Myrtle Beach and Conway’s boys basketball teams and their fans will keep the road hot on their way to the Florence Center.
Myrtle Beach will take on A.C. Flora on Friday at 8:30 p.m. for the Class 4A Lower State championship, while Conway will face Dutch Fork on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in the Class 5A Lower State final. For each team, the trip to Florence checks another box on a season full of completed goals.
Class 4A
“I knew at the beginning of the year that we were really skilled and talented, but they’ve improved in a bunch of areas to this point,” said Myrtle Beach coach Craig Martin. “When you play the schedule that we play, you’ve got no choice but to grow. Playing in the Beach Ball (Classic), playing in the Panther Classic, then playing the region that we do, you’re going to sink or swim.”
To this point, the Seahawks haven’t played with a full team due to injury or suspension. Martin hopes to have his full roster in place against A.C. Flora.
“We haven’t had a full team all year, we’ve been missing (a few guys) and Darius (Hough tonight), so we really haven’t been able to put our whole team on the floor,” Martin said Tuesday. “Now, it’s a matter of moving on to the next game and we’re pretty excited about it.”
On the other side, the Falcons of A.C. Flora come in after a controversial, but thrilling, victory over Marlboro County. The Falcons went into overtime against Marlboro County, then coach Joshua Staley made the decision for his team to hold the ball for the entire period. With 1.1 seconds left in the overtime period, A.C. Flora’s Robert McCray was fouled, hit two free throws and then a technical free throw to give his team a 56-53 victory.
Staley told The (Columbia) State he saw an opportunity for his team to win and took it.
“When I saw them in the 2-3 zone, I said, ‘let’s take one shot.’ Let’s not create opportunities for more fouls or the ball to bounce their way. Let’s just take the last shot and get up out of here. Rob followed the play to a T and that is what great players do. He put the game on his back and made the free throws.”
Myrtle Beach and A.C. Flora will battle at 8:30 p.m. on Friday for a chance to advance to the Class 4A state championship game against the winner of the Upper State matchup of No. 1 Wren and No. 1 Ridge View.
Class 5A
Conway finds itself in the Lower State finals for the first time in program history, and will face a team in Dutch Fork that has only made it to this point of the playoffs one other time.
The Tigers defeated River Bluff 57-45 on Tuesday, pulling away in the second and third quarters by holding the Gators to single-digits in each quarter. In the third round of the playoffs, Conway notched its most lopsided win in the bracket, as they’d defeated Goose Creek by a point in the first round and Stratford by four in the second.
Tonka Hemingway, a USC football signee, has powered the Tigers thus far, scoring 18 against River Bluff. His size, at 6-foot-3 and 250-plus pounds, makes Hemingway a tough matchup, but his tenacity in rebounding and knack for the clutch play make him a consistent threat on the hardwood.
On the other side, Dutch Fork is relying on its championship experience on the football field, where the Silver Foxes have won four consecutive Class 5A state championships, to power their basketball team.
“The younger guys, they listen to us because they know we’ve been through wars,” said Jarvis McClurkin, a senior guard for Dutch Fork, to the Lexington County Chronicle. “We tell them that we’re going to need them to help us and they buy into it.”
The winner of Saturday’s Lower State final will face the winner of No. 1 Wade Hampton and No. 1 Dorman.
Class 4A
No. 1 A.C. Flora v. No. 2 Myrtle Beach Friday 8:30 p.m. at the Florence Center
Class 5A
No. 1 Dutch Fork v. No. 1 Conway Saturday 6:30 p.m. at the Florence Center