Girls hoops action on tap as CresCom Invitational tips off

This week, a pair of Grand Strand area girls basketball teams will be given the opportunity to test their mettle against top competition from around the country in one of the nation’s premier holiday basketball tournaments.

And one of them will be putting their undefeated record on the line.

The unbeaten Myrtle Beach Seahawks (6-0) will open the 17th annual CresCom Holiday Invitational tournament at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Thursday as they play Christ the King (N.Y.) at 7:30 p.m. The Seahawks have played in the tournament each year since it’s inception.

“Our goal out there, of course, is to win it all,” Myrtle Beach junior forward Kiana Adderton said. “But most of all, just to learn, get better and come together as a team for the ultimate goal, which is a championship. If we can win there, we know we’ll have a good shot at making a run for a state title.”

The St. James Sharks (4-1) are making their second-ever appearance in the tournament and play their opening game Friday, taking on St. Mary’s (Canada) at 5 p.m. The Sharks last played in the tournament during the 2011-12 season.

“It’s a great tournament. It’s arguably the best one on the East Coast,” St. James coach Stan Patterson said. “We look forward to playing in it. It’s going to be a huge challenge, there’s a lot of good teams that are going to be out there. We’ll just take it and use it as a learning experience; that’s the whole idea behind it, use it as a learning experience. I’m excited for the girls and they’re excited to play in it, too.”

For much of this season’s early stages, the Seahawks have been without head coach Jennifer Dennison, who was dealing with an illness and on medical leave from the team. However, Dennison is expected to be back with the team during the tournament.

Interim coach Larry Bowen took over in her stead, during which Myrtle Beach has not missed a beat.

“I think right now the morale is pretty high. We’re winning, that always helps,” Bowen said. “We just have to keep working and getting better and that’s what we try to do every day.”

And while trying to improve their game against some elevated competition at the CresCom, Myrtle Beach certainly hopes to keep the ball rolling.

“We want to win it, but we have to start with our first game and just go from there,” Seahawks junior Nia Sumpter said. “We need to play as a team and work on things that we’ll need down the road during [Region VII-AAA] play. … We want to keep winning and keep it going.”

Quite a few South Carolina teams will participate in the tournament. Along with Myrtle Beach and St. James, Spartanburg, Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Lower Richland and White Knoll will take part.

Spartanburg’s Kionna Jeter may be one the most exciting players to look for at the tournament. As a junior last season, Jeter – the 2014 USA Today S.C. girls basketball Player of the Year – averaged 28.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.5 steals and 3.8 assists as she helped the Vikings to the third round of the Class AAAA playoffs.

Also, two-time defending CresCom champions Miami Senior (Fla.) will be back to put their title on the line, opening the tournament with a contest against Lower Richland on Thursday at 9:15 p.m. Norcross (Ga.), which went 28-5 and made it to the Georgia Class AAAAAA championship last season, will also be in attendance.

“They have some excellent players and teams coming; Miami Senior and Norcross are two that pop out. There’s some good schools from South Carolina, too,” Patterson said. “It’s a really good tournament; hopefully we can go out there and compete a little bit and see how it shakes out.”

While it’s St. James’ second apperance, it will be the first for many of the players on its roster. The Sharks’ leading scorer Kimmie Hotzelt is eager to see what her team can do.

“I’m pretty excited,” Hotzelt said. “Everyone knows what we can learn there, I think it’ll be a good learning experience. We’ll play some good teams and – overall – just the exposure and playing in that kind of atmosphere is awesome.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Girls hoops action on tap as CresCom Invitational tips off."