High school roundup (Feb. 9, 2016)

Girls basketball

▪ (At) Green Sea Floyds 48, Lake View 29 | The Trojans are in.

With Tuesday’s win over the Wild Gators, Green Sea Floyds clinched at least fourth place and playoff spot out of Region VIII-A.

“It’s great. Carvers Bay and Latta are very tough,” Trojans coach Tracy Kienast said of clinching a playoff spot in a highly competitive region. “I will not be surprised if they both make a deep run. They should. But we’re happy to get back on the winning track.”

Green Sea Floyds is down to just five varsity players because of injuries and other factors, Kienast said, so in some cases he’s having to start from square one.

“We’re trying to work with some new girls,” he said. “We only have five varsity girls, so we’re rotating some JV girls now that their season is over. We’re teaching a little bit new again. I’m leaning on the five I have. We’ll go as far as we can. But I’m glad that we’re in.”

Standout Quadasia Gillard is one of the players out with an undisclosed injury, but Kienast said the team is hoping to have her back soon.

▪ Socastee 48, (at) Carolina Forest 35 | Amber Rutledge stepped up Tuesday.

The Socastee senior had one 3-pointer, six field goals and was 2-for-2 at the free throw line for a career-high 17 points as she helped the Braves to a win over the Panthers. Mia Angelo added 15 points, and Shayla Baldwin scored 12 for Socastee, which clinched at least third place in Region VI-AAAA with the victory.

“It was the first game that, as coaches, we put together a really detailed, strong defensive game plan,” Braves coach Ginger Ford said. “The kids followed through with it brilliantly.”

Socastee’s Mercer Roberts didn’t score but grabbed seven rebounds, Kira Bell chipped in four points and six rebounds and Rutledge added four rebounds, two assists and four steals.

“We had several players left open to shoot tonight, and Amber took advantage of that,” Ford said. “[Her performance] was huge, because she hasn’t been a big scorer for us and it’s nice heading into the playoffs.”

Confidence is high for the Braves as they ride a 6-3 Region VI-AAAA record into a home matchup with undefeated Sumter (9-0) on Friday at 6 p.m.

“Lots [of confidence],” Ford said. “This is our fifth win in a row, and it couldn’t have come at a better time with Kira getting back in her rhythm and the team just playing well together. They believe they can beat anybody and, right now, that’s probably the most important thing.”

▪ (At) Wilson 60, St. James 48 | Bethany Goodrich and Kimmie Hotzelt had 14 points apiece, but the Sharks fell to the Tigers.

“We were down by four at halftime. We came out on an 8-0 run and cut [the deficit] to 3 in the fourth quarter,” St. James coach Stan Patterson said. “But they closed it out.”

The Sharks – who are 5-4 in Region VII-AAA – will close out their season as they host Lake City on Thursday at 6 p.m.

▪ (At) Conway 56, South Florence 43 | Zakera Chadmon poured in 17 points, Janecia Hemingway had seven points to go with a game-high 16 rebounds, and the Tigers beat the Bruins.

Meme Williams had 15 points and added three steals for Conway, which will close out the regular season as they travel to Carolina Forest to take on the Panthers at 6 p.m. Friday.

▪ North Myrtle Beach 47, (at) Lake City 32 | Aquera Johnson had 29 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Chiefs past the Panthers.

“She was able to get inside and we were able to get the ball into her there and she produced some points for us,” North Myrtle Beach coach Jude Hunt said.

Boys basketball

▪ Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach 71, Pee Dee Academy 43 | At Florence, Michael Green had 22 points, Jalen Matthews had 13 points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and Bernard Jones added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach to a win over Pee Dee Academy in the SCISA Region III-AA semifinals.

“We started out great. We played really good D, pressed early and were hitting buckets in transition. But in the third, we kind of fell apart,” Saints coach Darren Gore said. “We weren’t talking, playing a little lackadaisical and they started making a run. We tightened it in the fourth, but it was one of those games where you just lose momentum and they guys seem like they lose interest. We got sloppy and I don’t like that this time of year, but they did respond better in the fourth quarter.”

The Saints are just a step away from being SCISA Region III-AA champions once again. Christian Academy will take on Florence Christian in the region championship Friday.

“The morale is good,” Gore said. “We just need to play basketball like we teach basketball.”

▪ Carvers Bay 55, (at) Latta 54 | Arkel Williams had 15 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, Dijon Goss scored 12, and the Bears took down the Vikings.

▪ (At) Wilson 51, St. James 26 | Jackson Hurston had 13 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Sharks fell to the Region VII-AAA rival Tigers.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 11:05 PM with the headline "High school roundup (Feb. 9, 2016)."