Lack of respect being used as motivation for area hoops teams

The Grand Strand’s basketball teams will have to earn their respect.

When the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association released its preseason rankings earlier this month, only two area teams were ranked. The Myrtle Beach girls were No. 6 in Class AAA and the Carvers Bay boys were No. 5 in Class A. Bears senior Arkel Williams was the lone mention for individual honors.

As for the rest? Well, they discovered that a lack of playoff success from the 2014-2015 season equated to being overlooked, at least at the statewide level, this time around. Much of it is understandable.

“It has a lot to do with ‘What have you done for me lately?’ Carvers Bay coach Jeff Mezzatesta said.

In total, 14 of the 24 boys and girls teams playing SCHSL ball made the playoffs last year. However, they combined to go just 8-14 once they got there. Ten of the teams who qualified were one and done.

And had it not been for the Carvers Bay girls, who advanced to the Lower State finals, or the St. James boys or Myrtle Beach girls — who each won two games in the playoffs — the overall tally could have looked much worse.

In many ways, though, the 2014-2015 season could be looked at as only the beginning. There is reason for hope for many teams moving forward.

The aforementioned teams with playoff success from last year all have reason to believe they can repeat some of their runs.

In earning their first home playoff game ever and advancing to the Lower State finals, the St. James boys basketball team relied on six strong upperclassmen. Garrett Mullis, Haywood Brandon and Tristen Fields are gone, but with guards Jackson Hurston, Jordan Fields and Zach Werba back in uniform, the front court should be able to help the Sharks keep pace with what it a guard-laden region. If Monty Carr’s team can navigate the likes of Wilson and Myrtle Beach, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be able to put itself in position for more playoff success.

The same goes for the Myrtle Beach girls.

Although head coach Jennifer Dennison is on medical leave (the school hopes to have her back in late-December), the Seahawks are as loaded as any area program. Last year’s team — one that lost to Crestwood in the Lower State semifinals — didn’t include a single senior. Dennison said immediately after that season-ending loss that this year’s team could be something special.

The roster backs that up. Speedy guard Keocia Walker has proved difficult to cover, and front-court standouts Nia Sumpter and Kiana Adderton have also shown player-of-the-year type talent.

Myrtle Beach is the likely favorite to win Region VII-AAA, a run that could start about the time Dennison is expected to return.

ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS

If anything was clear during the 2014-2015 season, it was that much of the production individual teams were getting was coming from players who would be returning.

On the boys side, the area’s top three scorers, top four rebounders and three of the top four players in terms of assists are all back on the court for their respective schools this season. The girls lost top overall scorer and The Sun News Toast of the Coast Player of the Year in Carvers Bay’s Desaree Green and North Myrtle Beach’s Ronshelia Dewitt, respectively, who was fourth. However, eight of the other top-10 scorers are back, as well as the top five in assists and the top four rebounders.

Players like Carolina Forest’s Duane Moss, St. James’ Hurston (the boys Toast of the Coast Player of the Year) and Williams should be stat-stuffing again for the respective programs. Same goes for Tamara Jackson and Quadasia Gillard at Green Sea-Floyds, Aquera Johnson at North Myrtle Beach and Carolina Forest’s Alexis Tomlin, some of the names near the top of at least one category from a year ago.

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Lack of respect being used as motivation for area hoops teams."