High school roundup (Jan. 30, 2016)
Socastee is sure glad to have junior Kira Bell back.
The star point guard has returned from a torn ACL that she suffered well before the season began and scored just one point in a limited role during a loss to Carolina Forest on Tuesday, her first game back. But Bell seems to be getting back to her normal self as she posted 12 points in a road win over South Florence on Saturday and scored 11 in a 51-24 home win over South Florence on Saturday.
“She’s getting more confidence every game,” Socastee coach Ginger Ford said. “She’s getting more minutes every game and getting her stamina back. Just a big boost for our team.”
Before Bell returned, the Braves heavily relied on Shayla Baldwin, who averages 12.7 points per game, and Mia Angelo (11.8 ppg). The two carried the load just fine, leading Socastee to a 8-9 record, but will benefit greatly from Bell’s presence.
On Saturday, Angelo had eight of her game-high 22 points in the first quarter to set the tone for Socastee, which took a 26-16 lead into halftime and never looked back.
“Well, I really think we had a strong defensive first quarter,” Ford said. “Mia Angelo got off to a strong start. I think with that quick start, it just helped with our confidence tremendously.”
The Braves sit at 3-3 in Region VI-AAAA, and Ford said she isn’t overlooking any opponent. Socastee hosts Conway at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time. I know it’s cliche, but that’s what we’re doing,” Ford said. “We have a really important game with Conway. We’ll try to avenge our loss to them earlier, and just prepare the best we can for each game.”
▪ SOUTH FLORENCE (24): Jada Dix 5, Quinna Hodge 12, Morgan Perkins 7.
▪ SOCASTEE (51): Shayla Baldwin 12, Amya Leinbach 2, Kira Bell 11, Mia Angelo 22, Mercer Roberts 3, Jadan Jones 1.
SF | 6 | 10 | 6 | 2 | — | 24 |
SOC | 14 | 12 | 19 | 6 | — | 51 |
▪ 3-point goals: SF 2 (Dix 1, Hodge 1), SOC 5 (Angelo 4, Roberts 1). Team fouls: SF 16, SOC 9. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
▪ Records: South Florence 7-9 (1-5 Region VI-AAAA); Socastee 10-10 (3-3).
Boys basketball
▪ Carvers Bay 62, (at) Hemingway 60 | Down by 11 points with just three minutes to go, the Bears put things in gear.
After two big 3-pointers by Jeremiah Greene to tie it 60-all, Tyrek Reed hit the game-winner to lead Carvers Bay to a come-from-behind victory over No. 1 Hemingway.
Bears senior Arkel Williams had 17 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks as he continues to fight a cold.
▪ CARVERS BAY (62): Tyrek Reed 14, Molik Reed 2, Dijon Goss 8, Quevon Dickerson 5, CJ Miller 2, Jeremiah Greene 6, Arkel Williams 17, Josh Canteen 7.
▪ HEMINGWAY (60): Desmond Pressley 9, Darius Brown 5, Darius Taylor 14, Ty’Rike Lewis 2, Jordan Porchea 14, JaQuan Julious 6, Malik Morris 11.
Carvers Bay | 17 | 12 | 9 | 23 | — | 62 |
Hemingway | 16 | 10 | 14 | 18 | — | 60 |
▪ 3-point goals: Carvers Bay 4 (Greene 2, Williams 2), Hemingway 6 (Porchea 2, Morris 2, Pressley 1, Brown 1). Team fouls: Carvers Bay 17, Hemingway 18. Fouled out: Julious (Hemingway). Technical fouls: Hemingway 2 (Team), Carvers Bay (Team).
▪ Records: Carvers Bay 15-7, 5-1 Region VIII-A.
▪ South Florence 62, (at) Socastee 38 | The Braves’ Region VI-AAAA slump continued Saturday, falling to 0-6 after a loss to the Bruins.
Socastee kept up with South Florence early on, trailing the Bruins by just eight at halftime. But South Florence pulled away, outscoring Socastee 18-2 in the third quarter.
“We played a decent first half,” Braves coach DeAndre Scott said. “Then they pretty much blitzed us in the third.”
Scott said he’d like to instill some confidence in his young team by winning at least one win in their final four region games. The Braves host Conway at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, and will travel to play South Florence (Feb. 5) and Carolina Forest (Feb. 9), before finishing out the year with a home game against Sumter on Feb. 12.
“For our kids, we’d like for them to pick up a region win if we could,” he said. “It’s a really competitive region. We’ll get back to work and try to get one next week.”
▪ SOUTH FLORENCE (62): Dominique Small 12, Justin Ford 22, Bryan Salters 5, David Burch 2, Giovani Rivers 12, Justin Burch 7, Marcus Weidman 2.
▪ SOCASTEE (38): Tyler Rainer 2, Marcus Hemingway 6, Nijaye Foster 3, Dalton Jonas 2, Kendrelle Generette 8, Alex Collins 2, Andrew Gardner 9, Jason Cudd 6.
SF | 15 | 16 | 18 | 13 | — | 62 |
SOC | 13 | 10 | 2 | 13 | — | 38 |
▪ 3-point goals: SF 9 (Rivers 4, Small 2, Ford 1, Salters 1, J. Burch 1), SOC 3 (Gardner 2, Foster 1). Team fouls: SF 8, SOC 3. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
▪ Records: South Florence 10-6 (4-1 Region VI-AAAA), Socastee 6-14 (0-6).
This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 10:19 PM with the headline "High school roundup (Jan. 30, 2016)."