Fall sports weekly rewind (Sept. 26)

St. James girls golf getting tournament ready

The Sharks are getting tournament ready at just the right time.

After struggling in big events so far this season, the St. James girls golf team rallied from eight strokes back to win the Lady Patriot Invitational at The Golf Club at Wescott Plantation in North Charleston by nine strokes earlier this week.

After a first-round 320, the Sharks finished with a 296 to finish at 616, nine strokes ahead of defending Class AAAA state champion Lexington and 39 shots ahead of third-place Easley, last year’s AAAA runner-up.

“It was really good since we’ve been struggling in tournaments,” St. James coach Denise Noll said. “It was good to come out and shoot low.”

St. James’ players exhibited the kind of resiliency that could be crucial when the state tournament takes place in late October. Led by three players – Smith Knaffle, Jordan White and Kelli Smith –shooting 73s, the Sharks surged past the competition on Day 2.

“The first day our ball-striking was pretty decent overall, but we struggled with the greens. They were firm and fast,” Noll said. “They adjusted on the second day. I think that made the big difference in the scores.”

She credited her team for taking bumps and bruises in early tournaments en route to getting this victory.

“Even if we don’t win, like in the past couple tournaments where we struggled, that ultimately led us to this,” Noll said.

The Sharks are coming off a runner-up finish in the Class AAA state tournament a year ago, but Noll wasn’t ready to get ahead of herself following Monday’s big win.

“We’re just taking it one match at a time right now,” she said. “We don’t want to think that far in advance.”

NMB bounces back

The North Myrtle Beach volleyball team was feeling defeated after two straight losses.

The Chiefs hope Thursday’s win over St. James was the start of a turnaround.

North Myrtle Beach coach Erica Allman moved freshman Sydney Bellamy from the middle to the outside at the start of Game 3, and Bellamy gave the Chiefs a huge boost en route to a win over the Sharks.

“Down 2-0, they were all hanging their heads and felt overwhelmed,” Allman said. “But I moved Sydney from the middle to the outside and there was pretty much no looking back after that.”

Bellamy finished with 16 kills and was the catalyst for the Chiefs, who improved to 7-2. Allman said her team fed off Bellamy’s energy and got the job done in a close match.

“It all started with Sydney. She left it all on the court,” Allman said. “She was all over the place, her face was red the whole night and she was just dominant. Huge performance from her.”

Sophomore setter Maddie Roy contributed 42 assists and junior outside hitter Maggie Hash added 25 kills for North Myrtle Beach.

“I thought the girls fought extremely hard tonight,” Allman said. “I’m so proud of them for playing as a team and rallying back against a really good, scrappy St. James team.”

Next up for the Chiefs is perhaps their toughest match of the year. North Myrtle Beach hosts rival Myrtle Beach on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Seahawks coach Larry Church – who coached Allman in high school – has led his squad to an impressive 11-1 overall record heading into Tuesday’s contest. Both teams are 4-0 in Region VII-AAA play.

“Of course North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach is always a great rivalry,” Allman said. “Myrtle Beach has a very, very strong team; they have great players all around the court. But I love playing [against] Larry.”

Allman also said people have doubted her squad to start the year and wants to prove them wrong on Tuesday.

“If our girls play with the passion and intensity they did tonight in Games 3, 4 and 5, it will be a much better match than people anticipate,” Allman said. “A lot of people are overlooking us. We show a lot of heart and a lot of fight and I’m excited for Tuesday.

“It’s been a good year so far. We’ve learned from our mistakes and our losses and we’ve been getting better and better.”

GSF girls cross country takes pack mentality

The Trojans are taking on a pack mentality.

It seems to be helping as the Green Sea Floyds boys and girls cross country teams picked up victories in a three-team meet earlier this week.

“I want them to all pick up their times. Our goal is to have everybody training in packs for consistency,” Trojans coach Phyllis Elvington said Tuesday. “I was pleased our boys finished in groups as well as the girls. We only had a few solo runners finish today, which is good to help keep those from being inconsistent.”

The Trojans girls improved to 14-4 after Tuesday’s meet, while the boys were at 11-8.

“We’re learning, growing, improving,” Elvington said.

This story was originally published September 26, 2015 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Fall sports weekly rewind (Sept. 26)."