The Grand Strand hardwood report (Jan. 10)

Aside from creating a game plan and building team chemistry, high school coaches at times are also part-time psychologists, doing whatever possible to keep their teams focused on the task at hand.

For a pair of Grand Strand area basketball coaches, that task became a tad more difficult last week with the recent release of the S.C. Basketball Coaches Association (SCBCA) poll.

Earning the respect of opposing coaches and competitors alike, Myrtle Beach was given the nod as the state’s top girls team in Class AAA, while Conway landed at No. 6 in the boys’ Class AAAA poll.

Though proud of such an accomplishment, Myrtle Beach’s Jennifer Dennison and Conway’s Michael Hopkins are quick to acknowledge they haven’t done anything yet.

“I was amazed; I didn’t think we were going to be No. 1,” Dennison said. “It was a great feeling telling the girls about it. I told them, ‘Don’t look at it as we’re No. 1; act like we’re No. 10 so we can work harder to stay in that position.’

“When you see that you’re No. 1 and you get content, things can only go downhill from there, and we definitely don’t want to do that.”

While Dennison was eager to relay the news to her team, Hopkins opted for a different approach.

“We haven’t looked at it, and honestly haven’t talked about it,” he said. “Our team still has a lot of work ahead of us, especially looking at the region we’re in. … You have West Florence one night, South Florence, the defending state champions in Sumter, Carolina Forest and Socastee. We’ll be getting everyone’s best, and there will be no nights off.”

Regardless of when it occurs, Myrtle Beach’s Nia Sumpter believes that earning the respect of others from around the state is quite the honor.

“I don’t want to say it was shocking, but we were pretty proud of ourselves because we’ve been working pretty hard to achieve that goal,” she said.

REGION PLAY BEGINS

Now that the holiday season has past, the road to the playoffs has truly begun for area basketball teams.

Aside from Myrtle Beach, which got a head start on the rest of local hoops squads on Saturday, the large share of Grand Strand squads will tip off the region portion of their schedules on Tuesday.

Indeed, the stretch takes on added importance for teams, each win or loss looming large in whether their dreams of postseason play will come true.

Games on the docket for Tuesday include: Carvers Bay at Creek Bridge; Hemingway at Green Sea Floyds; Aynor at Dillon; Socastee at Conway; North Myrtle Beach at St. James; Carolina Forest at West Florence; and Mullins at Waccamaw.

Of the local teams with the most to gain from the upcoming week is the Socastee boys squad, which takes on a pair of ranked opponents in Conway and West Florence.

A young group consisting of two juniors and three sophomores in the starting lineup, Socastee boys basketball coach DeAndre Scott admits his hope is for the team to continue in its quest to build confidence and consistency.

Winning games is the ultimate goal, however, and matchups against a pair of teams ranked in Class AAAA’s top 10 could shed light on exactly where the Braves are – and potentially how high they could go.

“We are just trying to find some consistency,” Scott said. “We will focus on the team (we are playing) of course, their tendencies and have the kids prepared, but we don’t worry so much about (opponents’) records and things.

“We just want to try and win two ballgames. Especially the one at home, as that’s super important if you want to try and claim a playoff spot.”

FAB FIVE PERFORMANCES

▪  Tamara Jackson, Green Sea Floyds: One of the area’s most prolific scorers, Jackson hung 28 points on Loris in a 51-38 win on Tuesday.

▪  Mia Angelo, Socastee: In her team’s final non-region game, Angelo’s 24 points helped paced the Braves past North Myrtle Beach in a 48-38 win.

▪  Jshin Brownlee, Green Sea Floyds: Brownlee was one of a pair of Trojans to score in double figures on Friday night, filling the bucket to the tune of 24 points in a 67-39 rout of Aynor.

▪  Jalinda Johnson, Green Sea Floyds: Without the team’s two key cogs on Friday, Johnson stepped up to provide the Trojans with 23 points in a 46-23 win over Aynor.

▪  Jackson Hurston, St. James: After a solid effort earlier in the week against Conway, Hurston’s 18 points led the way for the Sharks as they were able to get past Waccamaw, 46-45.

Staff writer Max McKinnon contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 5:11 PM with the headline "The Grand Strand hardwood report (Jan. 10)."