High school basketball weekly rewind (Feb. 6, 2016)

Sumpter eclipses 1,000 points

Hard work continues to pay off for Nia Sumpter and the Myrtle Beach girls basketball team.

And neither is close to being done.

Sumpter – a mainstay for the Seahawks – surpassed 1,000 career points as she scored 28 in Myrtle Beach’s 71-18 home victory over Lake City on Tuesday.

“It was a big night for her to reach 1,000,” Seahawks coach Jennifer Dennison said. “She has been a big-time player for us over the years.”

Sumpter has consistently got it done for Myrtle Beach this season, averaging 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and helping her team to an 18-4 overall record. She also had 12 rebounds Tuesday.

“She is always hungry,” Dennison said. “She plays hard on both the defensive and offensive end and gives everything she has. Every night when she steps on the court, she is ready to play basketball.”

CB girls motivated

The Carvers Bay girls basketball team has no shortage of motivation.

And it has showed thus far.

Seniors LaQuasha Coles and Anatashia Bromell have led the Bears to another strong season as the playoffs near, and they are using a loss to region rival Latta in the Lower State championship last season as a catalyst in their final push for a state championship.

“That was a big motivator,” Coles said of the 63-54 loss to Latta last February. “We had a lot of seniors on our team, and that was their last game. We knew how they felt afterwards, but we knew we still had this year to go. That was their last shot.”

Carvers Bay gained a measure of revenge on Latta with a 44-38 win over the Vikings on Jan. 26. Coles and Bromell led the Bears in that game, as they have all season, and coach Issiah Tucker has seen them develop into star players in his four years of coaching the pair.

“They’re the two best players I have,” Tucker said. “They know the system, they know the routines and they just go out and perform.”

Coles and Bromell also have taken on a much larger leadership role, and feel like it’s their duty to guide the younger players, as Carvers Bay seniors – like Desaree Green, The Sun News’ 2015 Toast of the Coast Player of the Year – did for them.

“We have to push them very hard, because they have another year to go,” Coles said. “This is our last year and we want to go all the way, so we have to push them and get them ready. We’re hungry.”

Said Tucker: “They really drive my youngin’s and they keep saying, ‘Y’all have another year, but this is it for us.’ We blew it last year, so they want to get it done and go out on top.”

The Bears and Vikings are again at the top of the region standings, and the teams will have one final meeting – on Tuesday at Latta – before the Class A playoffs begin. Tucker has high hopes for his squad.

“The ultimate goal is to win the state championship,” Tucker said. “We feel good, but it’s a tough region. We know Latta is a good team, and we’d like to beat them again. We really want some momentum heading into the playoffs.”

Meanwhile, life without Coles and Bromell won’t be easy next year but an influx of seniors will have the Bears in good shape.

“The future is great,” Tucker said. “Next year, even without LaQuasha and Anatashia, we’re going to be good because I’ll have seven seniors, two juniors, and I have one eighth grader that just moved up from the B team that will be a freshman next year. I think we’re going to be OK.”

Saints senior sendoff

On senior night, it took a while for the Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach to get going but it heated up before halftime and never slowed down en route to a win over Pee Dee Academy on Tuesday.

“It was one of those senior night things, we wanted to get seniors out there. We started out slow, but kicked it into gear to get a lead and we held on,” said Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach coach Darren Gore, whose team finished its SCISA Region III-AA slate at 8-0. “To recognize our seniors and to send them out on a winning note is always nice.”

The Saints, who started the year 1-8, have won 11 of its last 13 games and will head into the SCISA Region III-AA tournament at Florence on Tuesday with some momentum and a No. 1 seed.

Christian Academy had a contest scheduled with Hammond (20-1), which features UNC commit Seventh Woods – the No. 1 player (Class of 2016) in South Carolina, according to ESPN.com. However, that game won’t be played as the team is dealing with a plethora of injuries, including one to Woods and had to cancel.

“This wrapped up the region for us. We’ll be the No. 1 seed and we’re looking forward to state playoffs but I hate missing that one with Hammond,” Gore said. “We wanted to play a high-caliber team going into the playoffs because our region was a little down this year. I just hope our guys can continue to progress. We’ve had some really good practices and hopefully we’re prepared for whoever we’re going to play.”

Happy returns

St. James senior forward Bethany Goodrich returned Tuesday after missing four games with a knee injury.

She injured her knee in a win over the Bulldogs on Jan. 15, and scored eight points in St. James’ win over Georgetown on Tuesday.

“It’s hard to lose a 10-point, 10-rebound (a game) player,” Sharks coach Stan Patterson said. “To gradually work her back in – especially now – is huge.”

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "High school basketball weekly rewind (Feb. 6, 2016)."