High school roundup (Dec. 1)

Tracy Kienast likes the balance his Trojans have.

And if they keep spreading the wealth, the Green Sea Floyds girls basketball coach likes his team’s chances.

Sophomore point guard Tamara Jackson had a game-high 29 points to go along with seven steals to lead three Green Sea Floyds starters who scored in double figures as the Trojans took down West Columbus 69-29 Tuesday in their season opener.

Senior forward Quadasia Gillard added 15 points, senior Paige McDaniels scored 14 and freshman Laura Black contributed seven for Green Sea Floyds (1-0).

“Our starters really step up when they need to and have done a good job of sharing the ball,” Kienast said. “I thought we shot well and we’ve got a nice group that can step up and score in double digits. Hopefully we keep it going so opposing teams can’t focus on just one player.”

In a preseason tournament, the Class A Trojans fell to Socastee (Class AAAA) and Georgetown (Class AAA), but beat Loris (Class AA). Kienast said he has seen some good improvement from his squad.

“Tournament play really got us going,” he said. “We’ve been building every game we’ve played and we’re getting a feel for each other. Tonight was our first regular season game, but our fourth game overall. So hopefully we can build on the things we do well and fix the things we haven’t done so well.”

High school boys basketball

▪ (At) Myrtle Beach 71, Socastee 64 | Courtesy of a game-winning field goal by kicker Mitch McCrackin as time expired last Friday, the Myrtle Beach football team kept it’s state title hopes alive. It also left Craig Martin’s Seahawks undermanned.

With just seven varsity players Tuesday, the Seahawks (Class AAA) held off the Braves (Class AAAA) for a win in their season opener. Bryce Schneider led the way with a team-high 20 points to go along with eight assists, Adam Zam contributed 17 points, Robert Swanson scored 12 and Emory Knox had 10 for Myrtle Beach (1-0).

“I thought our kids played well,” Martin said. “We’re still missing some guys with the football team making their run to the state championship. I thought that the seven guys I had, did play well together and did a good job. We got a good win against Socastee, which is a good team; Coach [DeAndre] Scott does a great job with those guys. We did the best we could with seven guys.”

▪ (At) Carvers Bay 62, Georgetown 33 | Without two experienced starters Tuesday, the Bears had to once again rely on Arkel Williams.

And Williams came through despite getting into foul trouble.

Williams scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Josh Canteen added 11 points as Carvers Bay cruised to a season-opening win over the Bulldogs.

“We’re missing DJ Goss, who is out with a football injury and could miss quite a few weeks and we’re without Marquise Goss, who got a concussion and is undergoing the protocol for that,” Bears coach Jeff Mezzatesta said. “That’s taking a lot from this team; that’s about 27 points a game right there between those two. But I thought our defense was great, we held them to 12 at halftime.”

▪ (At) Aynor 46, Lincoln 37 | Caleb Jenerette had a game-high 22 points as the Blue Jackets cruised to a victory.

▪ (At) Conway 55, St. James 42 | Trenique Richardson had 11 points and 11 rebounds and Darren Stanley scored 13 to lead the Tigers to a win over the Sharks.

▪ Carolina Forest 66, (at) North Myrtle Beach 48 | Duane Moss had a game-high 21 points and Matt Weatherwax scored 12 as the Panthers took down the Chiefs.

High school girls basketball

▪ Carolina Forest 49, (at) North Myrtle Beach 44 | The Chiefs and Panthers battled back-and-forth Tuesday. Until Carolina Forest went on a run in the fourth quarter, that is.

Alexis Tomlin led the way with 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers, who outscored the Chiefs by 11 in the final frame en route to a win in their season opener.

Aquera Johnson had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Julie Carini scored 12 for North Myrtle Beach. Chiefs coach Jude Hunt said despite the loss, he felt his team played solid basketball.

“I thought we played well,” Hunt said. “We played three very good quarters of basketball, but we had some defensive breakdowns in the fourth and let Carolina Forest come back and take the lead.”

Hunt knows it will take some time, but said he feels if his squad can keep improving they’ll be in good shape.

“We still have a long way to go, but I think we’re going to be OK,” he said.

▪ St. James 47, (at) Conway 43 | Bethany Goodrich had a team-high 16 points to help the Sharks to a win over the Tigers in their regular season opener.

Kimmie Hotzelt scored eight and Kelsi Bachmann added seven points for St. James. Meanwhile, Aishera Williams had a team-high 16 points and three steals, Lenaejha Evans scored 11 and Zakera Chadmon had nine points, five rebounds and three steals for Conway.

▪ (At) Aynor 46, Lincoln 11 | Kayla Gerald had a career-high 15 points, Madison Barton scored nine and the Blue Jackets cruised to a win over the Yellow Jackets.

▪ (At) Carvers Bay 32, Georgetown 29 | The Bears withstood a furious fourth quarter rally by the Bulldogs to pull out a victory in the season opener for both teams. Laquasha Coles led the way for Carvers Bay with 10 points, while Anastashia Bromell chipped in seven of her own.

▪ (At) Myrtle Beach 57, Socastee 30 | Kiana Adderton and Nia Sumpter had 11 points apiece to lead the Seahawks to a convincing win over the Braves in their season opener.

Ivy Collins and Keocia Walker each scored nine and Jalah Horton added eight points for Myrtle Beach (1-0). Meanwhile, Shayla Baldwin had a team-high seven points and Mia Angelo scored six for Socastee (0-1).

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 10:50 PM with the headline "High school roundup (Dec. 1)."