Prep notebook: Carvers Bay boys winning with quality, quantity

Regardless of the classification, the biggest names on the state’s best basketball teams tend to draw the most attention, especially as we get deeper into the playoffs.

Jeff Mezzatesta is just fine with that.

As the Carvers Bay boys coach prepared for his team’s third-round game at C.E. Murray for the right to play in the Lower State finals, he was hoping that everyone getting ready for his squad was worried about only All-State honoree Arkel Williams.

“That’s what we want. We want you to [focus on Arkel],” Mezzatesta said. “That’s the misconception of Class A basketball, that because it’s a small school, you have one or two players. You look at the state champions over the years. It’s never because of one player.”

Mezzatesta specifically cited some of the great Hemingway and Great Falls teams that were routinely making runs to the state finals in the last three decades. They would frequently have eight or nine players who could start, and they tended to overwhelm opponents the longer the game went on.

If that’s the case, Murray and Carvers Bay on Tuesday night could also develop into a battle of attrition.

The Eagles have fellow Class A All-State selection Marcus Reid (17.7 points and 15.0 rebounds per game), sophomore Ronald Cantey (14.8 ppg) and junior Jahmoma Tisdale (11.1 points, 5.1 assists per game).

For Carvers Bay (17-8), the return of DJ Goss has given the Bears back their second-best player, and he’s averaged just shy of a double-double in his four games over the last two weeks. There are two others averaging better than seven points per game, but the scope of players who can have an impact at any time is much wider.

That’s something these teams are well aware of. The relatively short distance between the schools means plenty of crossover in their day-to-day lives.

“When they go get a burger in Hemingway, they’re all eating at the same place,” Mezzatesta said. “It’s not ‘I know about Arkel.’ It’s ‘I know Arkel.’ They’re going to be at the same church functions.

“In the Class A ranks, we’re all pretty close knit. We do a lot to [support] each other. Sometimes in Class A, we’re the forgotten end of the road. We’ve got some of the best talent. Of course, I’m biased.”

C.E. Murray and Carvers Bay both earned No. 2 seeds for the playoffs, but the Eagles earned the home-court advantage due to the alternating bracket pairings used by the South Carolina High School League. Murray has won seven games in a row and nine of the last 11, while the Bears have have 12 of their last 14 games.

Tuesday’s game will tip off at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the Lower State finals, which will be played at approximately 12:30 p.m. Saturday the Florence Civic Center.

PLAYOFF BASKETBALL NOTES

▪ This will not be the first time Carvers Bay and C.E. Murray have met in the third round of the playoffs. In 2011, the two played – both as No. 1 seeds – with the Eagles winning a 71-47 blowout.

▪ The Carolina Forest boys basketball team (18-7) made history by winning its first two Class AAAA playoff games in school history over the course of the last week. The Panthers’ third-round game will come against a team basically expected to do that on a yearly basis. Irmo has reached the third round in six consecutive seasons and owns as many championships in Class AAAA (five) as any other team since the fourth division was created in 1968-1969. Irmo (22-4) won Class AAAA titles in 1991, 1994, 1998, 2011 and 2013 under longtime coach Tim Whipple. Whipple, who is approaching 700 career victories, is also the fourth-winningest coach in state history.

▪ What’s in a ranking? Well, Irmo held the No. 1 ranking in the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association final regular-season polls. And of the eight teams remaining in the Class AAAA playoffs, only Carolina Forest and South Aiken were not included. The Panthers knocked off No. 2 James Island on Saturday to reach Tuesday’s third-round game.

▪ Carolina Forest has made it to the third round of the playoffs twice in school history. The Panthers also did so in Class AAA in 2005-2006, when former All-State selection Michael Strickland (who later played at Randolph-Macon College) led the team – then coached by Eric Lyons – to wins over Brookland-Cayce and Lake Marion, both of which came on the road.

▪ Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach (17-10) will be playing at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the SCISA Class AA quarterfinals against Spartanburg Christian Academy (9-17). The game will be played at Wilson Hall in Sumter, with the winner there moving on to Thursday’s state semifinals at the Sumter Civic Center. The Saints, in their ninth year of varsity basketball, previously won five state championships in their seven years at the SCISA Class A level.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Prep notebook: Carvers Bay boys winning with quality, quantity."