Category Archives: News
Library youth programs canceled for book review
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Users of the Pickens County Library System will experience changes in services offered going forward for a time, including the cancellation of many of its youth programs as library staff begin to review more than 86,000 books after a change in the librarie’s collection policy.
The changes are necessary due to the need to reallocate staff time to implement recent
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County plans new ambulance facility in Pickens
By Mike Pulley
Special to the Courier
news@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Pickens County is planning to build a new ambulance staging facility in the city of Pickens.
At its Feb. 17 meeting, council discussed one of two locations for the new facility, known 
as EMS Medic 1. The new facility will replace a temporary home for Medic 1 that operates out of a manufactured building adjacent to the Rescue Squad 7 station at 121 Ann St. in
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Daniel girls see season end with third round loss to South Pointe
By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — With a trip to the Upper State championship on the line, the Daniel High School girls basketball team hosted South Pointe on Monday night.
Early turnovers mounted for the Lions and they were unable to stop the Stallions’ all-state tandem of Kaleigh Lucas and JaNyia Cunningham throughout the game, falling 77-52.
“Not taking care of the basketball really hurt us,” Daniel head coach Cosandar Griffin said. “When we went into halftime we were only down by 12, I thought we had a chance. 
It was just so hard to take care of the ball and try to guard those posts.”
The undersized Lions put an emphasis trying to stop Cunningham down low, but even with everything Daniel threw at her at the 6’1” junior she still found a way to put up 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
“She’s just a dominant player,” Griffin said. “She can play small, she can play big and she just knows how to get position down low in the paint.”
With Cunningham’s gravity down low, the floor open up for Lucas as well as she scored a game-high 28 points with four made three-pointers.
“(Cunningham and Lucas) really stepped up and played,” South Pointe head coach Stephanie Butler-Graham said. “They sealed the deal for us.”
The Lions were hot to start the night with Lila Mann, Janiyah Wilson and Braelin Cumbie all hitting three-pointers to keep things tight midway through the first quarter. Cunningham proved to be too much though with 10 of her 27 points in the opening quarter.
Trailing 23-15, the Lions tried to match the Stallions with Cumbie and Shala Williams stepping up on offense. However, the South Pointe continued to get easy buckets in transition because Daniel’s 18 first half turnovers, giving the Stallions a 37-25 lead at the half.
Lucas scored eight straight to open the half for South Pointe but the Stallions were unable to pull away as Williams and Campbell Epting hit big shots for Daniel to make it a 54-40 game after three quarters.
Lucas and Chamberlain continued to roll combining for 55 total points in the contest as the Stallions put the game out of reach in the final quarter for a 77-52 win.
The loss was final game for the Lions three-member senior class of Braelin Cumbie, Madeline McAlister and Carly Webb. Griffin was effusive when talking about her senior class especially Cumbie, a four-year player who saw the Lions go from missing the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons as a freshman to winning 66 games over the next three years.
“She improved so much from freshman year to senior year,” Griffin said. “She’s basically the backbone of our program. She keeps everybody together.”
While the Lions will miss their graduating class, expectations remain high with the return three all-state players in Campbell Epting, Lila Mann and Shala Williams as Daniel returns to Class 3A next season.
“We have a great core coming back and we look forward to going back down to 3A,” Griffin said. “It’s still going to be tough with teams like Walhalla but we’re just ready to get back in the gym.”
South Pointe 77, Daniel 52
SPHS 23 14 17 23 — 77
DWD 15 10 15 12 — 52
Daniel (52) — Williams 15, Mann 14, Cumbie 13, Wilson 7, Epting 3.
South Pointe — Lucas 28, Cunningham 27, Rowan 14, Coleman 3, Phillips 2, Young 2, Hardy 1.
3-point goals — Daniel 11 (Williams 4), South Pointe 6 (Lucas 4). Rebounds — Daniel 20 (Mann 5), South Pointe 36 (Cunningham 14). Assists — Daniel 9 (Epting 3, Wilson 3), South Pointe 15 (Cunningham 5).
Skardon’s ‘Clemson 8 Challenge’ celebrates legacy of POW heroes
CLEMSON — Long before his death at 104 in 2021, retired U.S. Army Col. Ben Skardon made it his mission to ensure the stories of Clemson University’s prisoners of war
would endure.
A survivor of the 1942 Bataan Death March during World War II, Skardon founded what became known as the “Clemson 8” Challenge, originally honoring the five fellow Clemson alumni who survived the brutal march alongside him.
The event has since expanded to commemorate all 28 known Clemson POWs from every American conflict,
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IT IS TIME TO VOTE IN THE PICKENS COUNTY COUNTY COURIER’S READERS CHOICE AWARDS
Everyone run out and grab this week’s Pickens County Courier and vote for your favorite businesses in Pickens — and you could win $50.
The Courier will have the official ballots in this week’s edition. You must vote on an official ballot only found in this week and next week’s Pickens County Courier for your vote to be counted. The Pickens County Courier is available all over Pickens County at a drug store, grocery store, or convenience store near you.
Grab your copy today!
Greater Pickens Chamber of Commerce celebrating 60 years
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — The Greater Pickens Chamber of Commerce uses a variety of tools to promote the area, attract visitors and support area businesses.
Greater Pickens Chamber of Commerce president Dave Michel gave a presentation to Pickens City Council during its Feb. 9 meeting.
Originally organized in September 1965, the Pickens Chamber is celebrating its 60th
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PCSO lauds ‘Devil in Disguise’ guilty pleas, sentences
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
STATE — The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office is hailing recent guilty pleas entered in the multi-year, multi-agency “Devil in Disguise” investigation into drug trafficking in South Carolina.
According to an agency statement released Monday, the PCSO “would like to thank the
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Lady Lions clinch third straight region title with win over Tigers
By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
TIGERVILLE — The Daniel High School girls’ basketball team traveled to Blue Ridge 
on Feb. 10 looking to secure a third straight region championship.
The Lions took control in the first half and never let up, relying on a stellar two-way effort from senior guard Braelin Cumbie as they clinched the Region 2-4A championship with a 61-34 win over the Tigers.
“Their commitment, their energy and their competitiveness has shown all year,” Daniel head coach Cosandar Griffin said. “I thought they brought toughness tonight. They played hard, they played together and they finished the job.”
No player exemplified the toughness and the competitiveness of the Lions more than Cumbie. The senior finished with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, but impressed Griffin the most with her play on the defensive end as she hounded Blue Ridge all-state guard Opal Maralit, holding her to less than 10 points.
“Braelin is one of the best defensive guards in the state of South Carolina,” Griffin said. “She’s disciplined, she listens, she’s coachable and she can pretty much guard anybody. She’s an assassin out there on the court.”
While Cumbie knew it would be a challenge to try to slow down the Tigers’ leading scorer, she said she approached the matchup just as she would any other.
“It’s tough, but honestly I feel like I just try and play the same way I do against anybody else,” Cumbie said. “At the end of the day, I just have to do my job.”
Maralit proved how dangerous she could be with a three-pointer to open the night, and the Tigers looked like strong challengers for the Lions as they built a 7-3 lead over the first three minutes. Daniel forward Shala Williams responded with a standout stretch, scoring eight of the Lions’ next 12 points before assisting Cumbie on an and-one basket to put Daniel ahead 20-11 after one quarter.
Makes from Lila Mann and Campbell Epting kept the Lions going into the second quarter before Blue Ridge’s Kaydin Sullivan stopped a 13-0 Daniel run with just under four minutes left in the half. The Tigers got the lead back down to single digits, only for Williams and Cumbie to add two more baskets and put Daniel ahead 32-19 at the half.
Daniel showed no signs of slowing down to start the second half, with another and-one basket from Cumbie and a three-pointer by Mann kicking off the second-half scoring. The Lions went on a 17-2 run to open the quarter before Blue Ridge’s Macie Hanley added a pair of free throws to end the drought. The Lions got the last laugh though, with a three-pointer from Mann and consecutive baskets by Williams putting the lead at 56-23 going into the fourth quarter.
“We knew we needed to finish the job,” Griffin said of the Lions’ transcendent third-quarter effort. “We knew we had to come out and be a little more aggressive and work a little more together against a very good Blue Ridge team. I’m extremely proud of this team.”
With the large lead heading into the fourth, the Lions slowed down their offensive onslaught, with Cumbie adding the team’s only field goal of the period. Even with just one make, the Lions were still able to cruise to the 27-point win and secure the region championship
“It was very fun to see the result of all the work we have put in and finally not having a close game against them,” Cumbie said. “We pulled through and really played together as team.”
The Lions finished out the regular season with a win over Seneca on Thursday night before taking down Berea 66-44 on Monday night in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Winners of 23 straight contests, the 24-1 Lions will look to keep their win streak going on Friday night at home against the 16-8 A.C. Flora Falcons.
“We’ve just got to continue to work on getting better, working on ourselves, being confident and stressing defense,” Griffin said after the win over Berea. “I think if we do those things, we’ll be OK.”
Daniel 61, Blue Ridge 34
DWD 20 12 24 5 — 61
BRHS 11 8 4 11 — 34
Daniel (61) — Mann 15, Williams 15, Cumbie 14, Epting 13, McAlister 2, Wilson 2.
Blue Ridge (34) — Maxwell 10, Maralit 8, Heaton 6, Sullivan 5, Bosken 2, Hanley 2, Santana 1.
3-point goals — Daniel 4 (Mann 3), Blue Ridge 2 (Maralit 2). Rebounds — Daniel 35 (Cumbie 11), Blue Ridge 30 (Maxwell 10). Assists — Daniel 19 (Mann 7), Blue Ridge 9 (Maralit 4).
Courier Letters to the Editor
Saitta gives update on road paving
Dear Editor,
Last month, I wrote the SCDOT had added repaving S.C. 183 from Pickens to S.C. 135 (by BJ’s and Fairlane Flats) to their list, in 2027 or early 2028. With the help of Sen. Rex Rice, the SCDOT is now fast-tracking that. The repaving project will go out for bid next month. The hope is to have that section repaved by the end of the summer or by year-end. Three cheers for Rex Rice on speeding that up.
The SCDOT is also putting in a traffic light at the intersection at Jameson Road (going out for bid in August). Jameson Road intersects S.C. 183 in two places; this is the intersection that is furthest east. Not the one by BJ’s.
As you can see, the SCDOT is starting to repave U.S. 178 (Main Street Pickens down to Mauldin Lake Road); S.C. 8 from Ross Avenue (four-way stop by U.S. 123) north past the Woodside Mill and to the top of the hill at Mulberry Road; and S.C. 93 in Easley from U.S. 123 through town to S.C. 8.
Repaving those three highways is a two-step process. Now they are patching the worst areas by digging down six inches, packing down a new base and patching it with asphalt. You see those patches and the SCDOT trucks out there now. After the patching is finished and the weather heats up, those highways will be milled down two inches, get a fresh layer of asphalt and new lines painted. Finished by late summer.
Country Creek Road is a county road, and we have replaced two culverts on that road, which is behind Aunt Sue’s (by the Table Rock recycle center). That second culvert went in last week, and the road will be reopened later this week (loose gravel for awhile). The road should be repaved by early March. Thank you for being patient on that one. That road was closed too long. On the bright side, those 10-foot-by-4-foot concrete culverts will out last our children.
Alex Saitta
Pickens
In utter disgust
Dear Editor,
I’m outraged at the corruption and hypocrisy being unraveled in D.C. For decades the American people have been played. Incomprehensible evil will devour our children and theirs with taxes that will rob them of any decent lifestyle. Taxation necessary to avoid
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