Myrtle Beach girls dominate rival North Myrtle Beach, claim region crown

Myrtle Beach didn’t feel like sharing.

The Seahawks, with a 55-35 victory over North Myrtle Beach in the regular-season finale Thursday, earned sole possession of first place in Region VII-AAA. It was nothing new for a team that has won three straight titles and eight in the last decade.

“We knew that we’d be in a tie with Wilson [with a loss],” junior forward Kiana Adderton said. “We didn’t want that. This is a three-peat for us. We don’t like being second.”

Myrtle Beach, which previously earned at least a share of the region crown Tuesday, also owned the region’s No. 1 playoff seed regardless of the game against the Chiefs, courtesy of a secondary tie-breaker advantage over Wilson. Still, the Seahawks didn’t look like a team with nothing to play for, jumping out to a 13-0 lead.

Adderton (12 points, nine rebounds), Nia Sumpter (14 points) and Keocia Walker (17 points, five assists) paced Myrtle Beach to its seventh consecutive double-digit win inside the region.

Defensively, the Seahawks were just as effective. They forced North Myrtle Beach into 11 first-quarter turnovers and never allowed Chiefs forward Aquera Johnson to get going.

She entered the game four points shy of 1,000 for her career; however, she was obviously part of the Seahawks’ strategy. They forced her away from the basket, and it took one of the area’s top scorers until the second half to reach the individual milestone.

By that point, Myrtle Beach had stretched its advantage to more than 20 points and was looking like a state title contender. That’s exactly the type of team the Chiefs and coach Jude Hunt will also face in the opening round of the playoffs on Monday. North Myrtle Beach will head to Crestwood, which won Region VI-AAA and advanced to the Lower State finals a year ago.

Meanwhile, Myrtle Beach appears headed for a first-round game against Lakewood, which finished as the No. 4 team out of Region VI-AAA. It will be familiar territory, as the Seahawks have played at least one postseason game at home each year since the South Carolina High School League went to the current seeding format in 2003. Seahawks coach Jennifer Dennison said she tries to concentrate on staying healthy and improving week-to-week. And even after yet another region title, she was talking specifics, not championships.

“Now, it’s about working and executing,” Dennison said. “We have a lot of teams who we need [to be prepared for] in our half-court game.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach girls dominate rival North Myrtle Beach, claim region crown."