High school basketball weekly rewind (Jan. 9, 2016)

Saints building depth

Darren Gore is thinking long term in the early stages of region play.

He hopes it pays off when it matters.

After having his Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach boys team play a challenging non-region schedule, Gore is trying to build depth as SCISA Region VII-AA play heats up.

“We kind of front-loaded our schedule because I didn’t know how the region was going to shape up,” Gore said after Tuesday’s 67-33 win at Pee Dee Academy. “Fortunately, we were able to play a lot guys who don’t get a lot of playing time tonight. Those guys have worked hard in practice. Our starters did what they were supposed to do. It was good to see everybody contribute.”

The Saints’ bench chipped in 29 points Tuesday.

“They’re showing they can play some,” Gore said. “I’m excited about how they’re growing and how we’re improving as a team.”

Gore believes getting experienced depth will be a plus once more is on the line.

“They all play really, really good defense. That’s something I’ve told them, that the better defense they play, the better chance they’ll have to play,” Gore said. “It will hopefully pay off when we’re down the home stretch getting into region play and hopefully in the playoffs. Gaining confidence and experience is going to help us.”

Socastee girls persevering

Losing a star player is never easy, and the Socastee girls basketball team is still feeling the effects of losing junior point guard Kira Bell to a season-ending ACL injury, which she suffered before the season began.

However, the Braves have rallied in Bell’s absence, and coach Ginger Ford has led Socastee to a 7-7 record as they head into Region VI-AAAA play Tuesday. And while Bell can’t get back on the court just yet, she’s still doing what she can to help Socastee.

“It’s pretty tough, but she’s hanging there with us, hanging with the team,” Ford said of Bell. “She gives us a lot of coaching help on the bench and communicates well. She’s given what she can in a different capacity. She has such a tremendous knowledge and, right now, this is invaluable, especially to the younger players.”

Some of those younger players, like eighth grader Jaelyn Grandison and freshmen Mercer Roberts and Amya Leimbach have provided valuable minutes for the Braves.

Grandison had a career-high eight points, helping Socastee to a win over Waccamaw on Tuesday.

“My younger players have done a terrific job and have stepped up,” Ford said. “... Jaelyn Grandison isn’t a starter, but she’s really improving at each practice. She has a terrific attitude about the game, and it’s nice to see her get some nice minutes and score. I look for her to continue to improve throughout the season.”

And while the youth has done its job, so has the team’s upperclassmen. Junior Shayla Baldwin has been a mainstay, averaging well over 10 points per game. Seniors Amber Rutledge and Mia Angelo have also stepped up.

“So many nights, Mia draws a box-and-one and has to play out of position a lot and did a good job [Tuesday],” Ford said. “Only scoring 4 points, she is stepping up as a senior to do whatever she needs to do for this team.”

Ford said she wants her squad to focus on the little things as they keep moving forward.

“We just need to continue to stay focused and keep our heads up,” she said.

Carolina Forest girls relying on young ‘Big Three’

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. “They’ve 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.”

The Panthers lost a close game to Summerville on Friday night to finish 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.’ ”

GSF girls prepping for gantlet

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 46-23 win over 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.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 5:32 PM with the headline "High school basketball weekly rewind (Jan. 9, 2016)."