Category Archives: Sports
Pickens girls win tourney, top Easley
PICKENS — The Pickens High School Lady Blue Flame volleyball team continued its winning ways last week, winning the Pink is Power Tournament on Saturday at Woodmont High School in Piedmont and defeating cross-county rival and region foe Easley High.
Along the way, senior libero Bailee Earnhardt notched her 1,000th dig.
“The Lady Blue Flame ended their week on a high note after beating cross-town rival Easley on Thursday night and winning the Pink is Power Tournament at Woodmont 
High School,” Pickens coach Rikki Owens said. “Our team’s goal was to focus on the ‘little things’ and make sure we celebrated the successes along the way. These young ladies did just that, and it made for a fun weekend, especially when we defeated 5A Lexington High School for the fourth time this season. This week, we will strive to build upon this past weekend as we enter our last week of region play.”
During its march to the Woodmont tournament victory, the Lady Blue Flame defeated Southside Christian School of Simpsonville, Legion Christian Academy of Rock Hill, Gray Collegiate Academy of West Columbia and Lexington High. Junior setter/hitter Lauren Dow received the All-Tournament Award at the Woodmont tournament.
On Thursday, the Lady Blue Flame defeated region opponent Easley in straight sets for the second time this season. During the Easley senior night recognition of its two seniors, Kaedence Langston and Polly McCollum, Easley also graciously recognized the eight seniors on the Lady Blue Flame squad.
During the Easley match, Lady Blue Flame senior libero Bailee Earnhardt registered the 1,000th dig of her illustrious career at Pickens High School. To mark the occasion, Owens called a timeout while Bailee’s mother, Lyndsay, ran onto the court to give Bailee a poster that said, “Congrats Bailee 1,000 Digs #24.” The crowd on both sides of the court gave Bailee a standing ovation.
Pickens’ record stands at 31-3 on the season, with all three losses against 5A schools. The Flame are 6-0 in region play.
The Lady Blue Flame’s final regular-season home match was scheduled Tuesday night against region opponent Travelers Rest in the friendly confines of Coach Peggy Harden Anthony Gymnasium on the Pickens High campus, with results too late for press time. Senior night was scheduled during the Tuesday match. The final regular-season match will be a road trip Thursday night to take on the Lady Rams of Westside High School in Anderson.
After cancellation a week ago, Blue Flame to take on arch-rival Easley at Daniel on Saturday
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — After preparing to face Hendersonville (N.C.) last week, Pickens High 
School was forced to cancel their game against the
Bearcats on Friday morning due to inclement weather around the area.
Now, in the midst of a four-game
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Red Devils blanked by top-ranked Abbeville
By Clay Hamlett
Courier Sports
news@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — The Abbeville Panthers invaded Red Devil Stadium on Friday night and 
walked away with a commanding 48-0 victory over the Liberty Red Devils.
Led by head coach Jamie Nickles, the Panthers established their dominance early before ultimately easing off the gas pedal in the second half.
Unfortunately for the Red Devils — a team plagued by missed games and a player shortage — the game served as more of a difficult learning experience than anything else. Still, Liberty did what it does best by maintaining its signature intensity throughout while also displaying sheer grit and determination in the face of a superior opponent.
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Green Wave offense electric in win over region foe Walhalla
By Eugene Jolley
Courier Sports
news@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Saturday night football worked out for the Easley Green Wave, as they beat Region I-4A opponent 
Walhalla 53-32 at Bill Carr Stadium.
Heavy rains during the week forced the one-day delay until Saturday. It was worth the wait for the Wave, who played likely their best game so far this season, rolling to 539 yards of total offense.
“We played a lot better tonight,” Easley coach Jordan Durrah said. “We still have a lot of things that we have to clean up, but I was really proud of our effort, our focus, our
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Lions torch Pendleton on senior night
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — The Daniel High School football team hosted its senior night against Pendleton on Friday night, and the senior class stood out from the start in a 56-0 win at Singleton Field.
After many slow starts this season, Daniel head coach Jeff Fruster was happy with how his team came out of the locker room.
“We knew Pendleton was going to present some challenges, but I thought we did a great job of starting the game off fast,” Fruster said.
From the first quarter, it was apparent the Lions (7-0, 2-0 Western 3A) outmanned the Bulldogs (1-7, 0-2), with senior Clay Swinney hauling in a 47-yard touchdown from
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After dropping out of Top 25, Tigers focused on what they can control
By Michael Crouchley
Courtesy The Journal
michael@upstatetoday.com
CLEMSON — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said in no uncertain terms last week that he wasn’t worried about his team falling out of the AP Top 25.
“That doesn’t have anything to do with us trying to beat Syracuse,” Swinney said. “At all.”
That’s been the general approach for the entire team as it has gone through uncharacteristic struggles early in the season.
Spend any amount of time listening to interviews with Swinney, his assistant coaches or the players, and it won’t
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Lady Blue Flame continue march through region
PICKENS — The Pickens High School Lady Blue Flame volleyball team defeated region opponents Westside and 
Walhalla last week, remaining undefeated in Region I-4A play.
“The Lady Blue Flame looked clean, precise and focused during our matches against Westside and Walhalla,” Pickens coach Rikki Owens said. “We were able to switch the rotations up with different lineups and play through possible scenarios that we could face during playoffs. We handled the situations and
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possible adjustments with confidence and poise and finished the task as a team.”
Against Westside Sept. 28 in the friendly confines of Coach Peggy Harden Anthony Gymnasium on the Pickens High campus, the Lady Blue Flame defeated the Westside Lady Rams in three straight sets. Playing against the Walhalla Lady Razorbacks Sept. 30, also at home, the result was the same, with the Lady Blue Flame prevailing in straight sets.
The Pickens team’s record stands at 24-3 on the season, with all three losses against Class 5A schools. They are 5-0 in region play.
The Lady Blue Flame are scheduled to play a region match this week against cross-county rival Easley High School. The match will be played Thursday at Easley, with the junior varsity match scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the Lady Blue Flame are scheduled to take part in the Woodmont Pink Is Power Tournament at Woodmont High School in Piedmont.
Golf tournament set to benefit Lakes and Bridges Charter School
EASLEY — Lakes & Bridges Charter School’s second annual fundraising golf tournament is set for Monday, Oct. 18.
The captain’s choice tournament will be held at Southern Oaks Golf Club, located at 105 Southern Oaks Drive in Easley. Check-in will begin at 1 p.m., with play set to get underway with a 2 p.m. shotgun start.
The cost for the tournament will be $400 per team and will include green fees, carts, catering and a gift bag.
Entry forms and fees must be submitted by Monday, Oct. 11.
For more information about playing in the tournament or sponsorship opportunities, contact Debbie Vaughn at (843) 343-7458 or dvaughn@labcharterschool.org.
Red Devils take down West-Oak on road for second straight victory
By Clay Hamlett
Courier Sports
news@thepccourier.com
WESTMINSTER — Following a hard-fought 8-7 win over Carolina on Sept. 24, the Liberty Red Devils went into this week looking to continue their momentum with another win as region play began.
They were able to do just that with a 33-21 victory over the West-Oak Warriors to move to 2-2 on the season.
The first two plays of the game were indicative of what was to come, as flags flew with penalties on both West-Oak and Liberty. Overall, Liberty racked up 14 penalties for a total of 119 yards. In a typical game, that would be more than
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Blue Flame drop fourth straight in region opener
By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher
WALHALLA — The Pickens Blue Flame hit the road again last Friday night, looking for their first region win of the 2021 season, but the 
Walhalla Razorbacks had something to say about that, taking a 51-34 victory from the Flame.
Like every game this season, Pickens started out playing tough, even holding a 21-12 lead in the second quarter,
but again this week a second-half defensive collapse cost Chad Smith’s team. Pickens was
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