High school roundup (Jan. 8, 2016)
Carolina Forest is relying on its “Big Three” even more this season.
Despite all three being sophomores, a lot is on the shoulders of Cheyenne Pyles, Ellen Nardella and Alexis Tomlin.
“They’re our captains. We kind of build everything around them,” Panthers coach Stacy Hughes said after Friday’s 37-34 loss to Summerville. “They’re really grown from last year. We’re just trying to get a little more consistency in our game schemes. Usually two of the three are on on the same night. We want to get where they’re all three on together.”
Pyles runs the point and is joined by Nardella in the backcourt, while Tomlin provides a presence down low at center. Having a big and two guards as its top players, Carolina Forest is trying to make the most of an inside-outside game.
“We’ve been trying to play that a lot more lately,” Hughes said. “We’ve been trying to spread it out a little bit and get movement on the perimeter. Alexis is good about kicking it out when she gets doubled up.”
With Friday’s loss, the Panthers finished non-region play even at 7-7. Now, they are preparing for what Hughes expects to be a grueling Region VI-AAAA schedule.
“We’ve got a couple really solid teams in our region,” Hughes said. “I told the kids, ‘It’s not going to get any easier.’ ”
Nardella had a team-high 11 points, Tomlin added 10 and Pyles had eight on Friday.
▪ SUMMERVILLE (37): Aniyah Oliver 6, Brittany Olean 4, Meredith Harley 5, Shawn-Perica Gibbs 5, Jordan Sprueill 11, Amia Salley 2, Jasmine Goodwine 4.
▪ CAROLINA FOREST (34): Cheyenne Pyles 8, Ellen Nardella 11, Jordan Martin 3, Alexis Tomlin 10, Winter Winfree 2.
Summerville | 6 | 13 | 8 | 16 | — | 37 |
Carolina Forest | 4 | 13 | 7 | 10 | — | 34 |
▪ 3-point goals: Carolina Forest 3 (Nardella 2, Martin 1). Team fouls: Summerville 13, Carolina Forest 13. Fouled out: Goodwine. Technical fouls: None.
▪ Records: Summerville 7-5, Carolina Forest 7-7.
Girls basketball
▪ (At) Green Sea Floyds 46, Aynor 23 | Tracy Kienast ran down the list quickly.
Perhaps more accurately, it was a gantlet.
The coach’s Green Sea Floyds girls basketball team finished up its non-region slate at 8-3 after Friday’s win over Aynor. Next up for the Trojans will be Region VIII-A play, where a bevy of tough teams awaits.
“We play in a very tough region,” Kienast said. “There are two teams ranked in the top 10 in Hemingway and Latta. Carvers Bay is real good too. Lake View is tough. And if you let your guard down Creek Bridge can creep up on you.
“It’s going to be very tough the rest of the way. There’s 10 games to go and they’re all region games.”
Green Sea Floyds has two key cogs in Tamara Jackson and Quadasia Gillard. However, the Trojans likely will need others to step it up if they want to be a factor in region play.
On Friday night, the squad got a nice preview as it was without Gillard and two others. The result was a rout of Class AA Aynor.
“The motto has been ‘Everyone has to step up,’ ” Kienast said. “When someone is out, we’re expecting you to fill that role and do what they do.”
The Trojans are off to an impressive start considering they returned just four varsity players from last year’s squad. While Kienast believes his team is on the right track, there’s still plenty of work to do.
“We’ve been doing a really good job of accomplishing what we wanted to learn [early on],” he said. “We’re trying to get a foundation down to where everyone understand our philosophy and what we want to do.”
With region play staring them in the face, the Trojans will soon find out just how much progress they’re made.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Kienast said.
Jackson led the way Friday with 23 points.
▪ AYNOR (23): Elliott 5, Gerald 4, Trimble 4, Lewis 2, Kroger 6, Jones 2.
▪ GREEN SEA FLOYDS (46): Laura Black 2, Tamara Jackson 23, Jalinda Johnson 6, Courtnee Faulk 3, Paige McDaniels 12.
Aynor | 5 | 8 | 0 | 10 | — | 23 |
GSF | 11 | 9 | 17 | 9 | — | 46 |
▪ 3-point goals: Aynor 1(Elliott), GSF 2 (Jackson 1, Faulk 1). Team fouls: Aynor 9, GSF 10. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
▪ Records: Green Sea Floyds 8-3.
▪ (At) Carvers Bay 63, Johnsonville 32 | Taleaa Adams and Angel Holmes had 11 points each to lead the Bears past the Flashes.
▪ JOHNSONVILLE (32): Ard 6, Lewis 7, Weaver 4, Feagin 2, McKnight 5, Graham 8.
▪ CARVERS BAY (63): LaQuasha Coles 8, Anatashia Bromell 5, Tiera Young 4, Taleaa Adams 11, Angel Holmes 11, Ijanai Haynes 6, Eriel Weston 6, Ji’Meshia Goss 3.
Johnsonville | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | — | 32 |
Carvers Bay | 19 | 17 | 16 | 11 | — | 63 |
▪ 3-point goals: Johnsonville 1 (Lewis), Carvers Bay 3 (Coles 1, Adams 1, Holmes 1). Team fouls: Johnsonville 18, Carvers Bay 11. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
▪ Records: Carvers Bay 6-1.
▪ Socastee 48, (at) North Myrtle Beach 38 | Mia Angelo had a game-high 24 points to lead the Braves past the Chiefs.
▪ SOCASTEE (48): Amber Rutledge 2, Shayla Baldwin 10, Amya Leinbach 4, Mia Angelo 24, Haley Altman 4, Mercer Roberts 4.
▪ NORTH MYRTLE BEACH (38): Shaquera Johnson 7, Myatt Hardwick 8, Jada Gore 2, Shania Cox 2, Aquera Johnson 13, Julie Carini 6.
Socastee | 11 | 14 | 14 | 9 | — | 48 |
NMB | 13 | 7 | 9 | 9 | — | 38 |
▪ 3-point goals: Socastee 3 (Angelo 2, Roberts 1), NMB 3 (Hardwick 2, S. Johnson 1). Team fouls: Socastee 18, NMB 14. Fouled out: Makala Gore (NMB). Technical fouls: None.
▪ Records: Socastee 7-7, North Myrtle Beach 4-10.
Boys basketball
▪ (At) Carvers Bay 53, Johnsonville 37 | Tyrek Reed had 17 points and Arkel Williams added 14 to lead the Bears past the Flashes.
▪ JOHNSONVILLE (37): Stephen Doctor 2, Shammond Morris 2, Solaman Skinner 8, Robert Ripley 14, D.J. Brown 3, Davonte Mack 4, Cyrus Mack 6.
▪ CARVERS BAY (53): Tyrek Reed 17, Molik Reed 2, Dijon Goss 7, Quevon Dickerson 5, Jaquan Reed 2, Marquiese Goss 4, Arkel Williams 14, Josh Canteen 2.
Johnsonville | 12 | 13 | 4 | 8 | — | 37 |
Carvers Bay | 17 | 7 | 9 | 20 | — | 53 |
▪ 3-point goals: Carvers Bay 2 (T. Reed 1, D. Goss 1). Team fouls: Johnsonville 18, Carvers Bay 18. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
▪ Records: Carvers Bay 7-6.
▪ (At) St. James 46, Waccamaw 45 | Jackson Hurston had 18 points to lead the Sharks to a narrow win over the Warriors.
▪ WACCAMAW (45): Kenley Vereen 7, Justin Busby 14, Jawan Bryant 14, Watt Frank 6, Miller Brison 2, Jabbrel Drayton 2.
▪ ST. JAMES (46): Jackson Hurston 18, Jordan Fields 8, Cole Gallagaher 2, Trey Myers 6, Alex Holmes 1, Jordan Furlough 5.
Waccamaw | 10 | 7 | 15 | 13 | — | 45 |
St. James | 9 | 8 | 17 | 12 | — | 46 |
▪ (At) North Myrtle Beach 70, Socastee 60 | The Chiefs topped the Braves.
▪ Summerville 64, (at) Carolina Forest 59 | Duane Moss had 17 points and Matt Weatherwax added 15, but the Panthers came up short against the Green Wave.
This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 10:17 PM with the headline "High school roundup (Jan. 8, 2016)."