Category Archives: Sports
Liberty girls fall to Cardinals
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — Opening up region play against arguably the toughest team in their conference, the Liberty Red Devil girls’ basketball team didn’t seem fazed early on as 
they trailed just 13-8 after one quarter against the Landrum Cardinals on Thursday night.
However, missed opportunities at the charity stripe and an overall lack of offensive production were too much for Liberty to overcome despite a solid effort in a 35-19 loss.
“We had a few lapses, but I thought our girls played really well,” Liberty head coach Gregg Thomas said.
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Green Wave drop close game to Wildcats
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Battling back from an eight-point deficit, the Easley Green Wave entered the fourth quarter with all the momentum on their side tied at 49-49 against the Woodmont Wildcats last Tuesday before letting the lead slip back to eight with less than two minutes to go.
Having done it once before, Easley went to work on the comeback, getting two baskets from senior forward Jayvion Leavell, including a huge putback with 17 seconds left to keep the Green Wave alive. Easley quickly fouled Woodmont’s Dre Huff, and despite making almost every basket to that point in a 30-point effort, Huff missed the front end of the one-and-one to give Easley a chance, but a crucial Leavell turnover on the ensuing possession ended Easley’s chances in a 62-58 loss.
“I told the guys we’re not good enough to overcome a lot of errors,” Easley coach Michael Jones said. “We did some things that obviously hurt ourselves. We had a stretch where we had four straight pretty bad turnovers in the first half, and we gave up too many offensive rebounds.”
After an opening basket from Carson Freeze, the Green Wave quickly fell behind as they struggled to contain Huff. Huff scored 10 points in the opening quarter to start his electric night, but Easley kept things close enough behind baskets from Leavell and senior guard Todd Williams.
Trailing 16-10, Easley used the sharpshooting skills of Ethan Crews and Kaleb Owens to tie the game at 18-18. A technical foul on leading scorer Kristian Chapman threatened Easley’s momentum, but Williams hit an and-one layup on the ensuing possession to give Easley its first lead of the night, 21-19. The Green Wave were unable to lead for long, though, with Huff scoring seven more points down the stretch in the quarter as Easley struggled with possession and rebounding, allowing the Wildcats to retake control with a 37-31 lead at the half.
Coming out of the break, the Green Wave cut into the deficit with ease as an 8-0 run bolstered by three-pointers from Owens and Chapman tied the game before Huff went on another scoring tear. This time, though, the Green Wave matched him, with Chapman hitting two huge shots and Crews nailing a couple of free throws to tie things at 49-49 heading to
the fourth.
Woodmont refused to go down easy as they opened the fourth on a 10-3 run, but Easley was as resilient as ever. Leavell carried the Easley offense down the stretch scoring seven of his team-high 17 points in the final quarter cutting the lead to four, but five missed free throws and the final, crucial turnover clouded his impact on the game as Easley fell 62-58.
“He’ll be fine,” Jones said of Leavell. “He is a competitor and he really wants to win. I know he is frustrated right now, but he is going to come back to work tomorrow.”
Despite the loss and disappointing start to the season, Jones was happy with the effort for his team in the loss especially after their prior play against the Wildcats and he feels good about his team as they head into region play.
“I’m really very proud of the guys,” Jones said. “We’re talking going to the wire with a team that beat us in the J.L. Mann Christmas tournament by 30. It’d be nice to have some of the games we lost this year back, but we our main focus is region play and we think we can be competitive.”
Woodmont 62, Easley 58
WHS 16 21 12 13 — 62
EHS 10 21 18 9 — 58
Easley (58) — Leavell 17, Owens 11, Williams 10, Chapman 8, Crews 8, Freeze 3.
Woodmont (62) — Huff 30, Kellett 9, Stewart 9, Ainslie 4, Bentley 4, Parry 4, Streetman 2.
Easley girls can’t keep up against second-ranked Woodmont
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Falling behind 9-0 at the start of a matchup with Class 5A’s second-ranked Woodmont Wildcats last week, the Easley Green Wave girls’ basketball team needed to defend at its highest level and stop turning the ball over.
The Green Wave were able to do that for the rest of the first half, cutting the Wildcat lead to 20-19 at the break, but just couldn’t keep up for the full 32 minutes in a 50-35 loss on Jan. 3.
“My concern was they started the game on a 9-0 run because of turnovers,” Easley head coach Ivan Raymond said. “We were able to get back in the game because we
cleaned it up, but we got much worse with it in the second half, and it caught up with us.”
On the night, the Green Wave committed 26 turnovers, with the lion’s share coming in the second half, leaving Raymond pleading with his team to take care of the basketball.
“The kids just have to understand that they have to be comfortable with the ball,” Raymond said. “Too many times turnovers get the best of us, and until we put the time in to get better with it, it will continue to be an issue.”
Turnovers were a major factor in Easley falling behind 9-0 at the start, but the Green Wave showed a lot of fight, battling back with a 13-4 run over the final five minutes of the quarter aided by baskets from forwards Olivia Gramblin and Reagan Horn to head to the second quarter tied at 13-13.
The game slowed in the second quarter, with neither side gaining much traction offensively. Easley led for much of the quarter, with baskets by Horn, Anaya Sligh and Mattison Hayes keeping the Wave ahead until Woodmont’s Anaya Muhammad hit a three-pointer just before the break to give the Wildcats a 20-19 halftime lead.
Early baskets from Hayes and Gramblin gave Easley life to start the second half, but the turnovers and a lack of offensive cohesion allowed the Wildcats to regain control and take a 36-29 lead into the fourth. Things didn’t improve for Easley in the final frame, as the Green Wave managed just six points in the quarter, while the Wildcats continued to roll on the way to the win.
While disappointed with the loss, Raymond still believes his team has the potential for a memorable season as it prepares for region play.
“Right now I think we’re at a crossroads where the girls have to think about what they actually want,” Raymond said. “I’ve said before that they have a chance to do something special this year, but you have to be willing to do the work. My challenge to them all year has been, ‘Are you going to put the time in so that you don’t get uncomfortable when someone gets in your face?’”
The 8-5 Green Wave opened region play on Tuesday against Greenwood, with results unavailable at press time.
Woodmont 50, Easley 35
WHS 13 7 16 14 — 50
EHS 13 6 10 6 — 35
Easley (35) — Horn 12, Gramblin 7, Hayes 4, Leach 4, McKinney 4, Eron 2, Sligh 2.
Woodmont (50) — Muhammad 18, Nesbitt 12, Stewart 9, Chambers 4, Earle 4, Pullman 2, Thurman 1.
Brawl of the Wild
Four-legged foes go blow for blow in an incredible boxing bout
By Dr. Thomas Cloer, Jr.
Special to The Courier
y wife and I love to hike and film wildlife. It is one of our favorite things to do. A pandemic that has someone dying every 30 seconds in the U.S. from COVID-19 will send one away from crowds and into the wild outdoors. It certainly did so to my wife and me.
We have spent many hours observing wildlife in the wild. I have done so now into my eighth decade. I started seriously observing wildlife in the 1950s. As the ball dropped and 2021 became a reality, I realized I had just entered into my eighth decade of serious wildlife viewing. I have published many stories about encounters
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Swinney after Orange Bowl loss: Tigers not falling off
By Will Vandervort
Courtesy The Journal
news@thepcccourier.com
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Dabo Swinney looked over at quarterback Cade Klubnik, running back Will Shipley and defensive end K.J. Henry late Friday night and chuckled after being asked if the Clemson football program has fallen from college football’s elite ranks.
“I don’t really know what to say to them,” Swinney said. “We are 11-3. Sure, I wish we were undefeated, but we have won the league seven out of the last eight years. I 
think that has only happened one other time, and that was in the (1970s) by Alabama.”
The question came after Clemson’s season ended with a 31-14 loss to No. 6 Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. The loss to the Volunteers was the No. 10 Tigers’ third defeat against a non-conference Power 5 opponent
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Tigers set to take on Vols in Orange Bowl
By Ian Taylor
Courtesy The Journal
itaylor@upstatetoday.com
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In a news conference earlier this month in Miami Gardens, Fla., ahead of the Orange Bowl, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney looked back on the first time he was a part of the storied game.
It was Jan. 1, 2000, when Swinney was a wide receivers coach for Mike DuBose’s Alabama Crimson Tide, which had gone 10-2 and won the SEC championship. The 
season ended on a loss though, as Michigan quarterback Tom Brady — playing in his last collegiate game — led the Wolverines back from two 14-point deficits to send the game to overtime, where Alabama kicker Ryan Pflugner missed an extra point and the Tide lost 35-34.
“One of my notables of life was coaching against Tom Brady in his last college game, and I didn’t
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Daniel falls to Westside in tournament championship
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — Off to a great start to the season and ranked fifth in the state in Class 3A, the Daniel High School boys’ basketball team took part in its own annual 
Christmas tournament last week, going 2-1 and falling just short of the championship with a 61-55 loss to Westside in the title game.
The Lions kicked off the tournament against county rival Pickens on
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Blue Flame go 1-2 in tournament
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — Coming off a win against Liberty last week, Pickens High School boys’ basketball coach Jeff Harrelson said he believed his team was playing its best basketball of the season.
Despite going 1-2 in Daniel High School’s annual Christmas tournament, the Blue Flame lived up to that billing and have Harrelson feeling good about his team heading into region play.
The Blue Flame kicked off the tournament against county rival Daniel and jumped out to a great start behind senior forward Coley Gillian, who scored seven points and blocked two shots as Pickens jumped out to a 13-9 lead over Daniel. Gillian and the Blue Flame kept their strong defensive effort going in the second quarter, as they held the Lions to just four points, with Gillian and Wyatt Reeves adding three blocks apiece in the first half.
Leading by as many as 12 in the third quarter, the Blue Flame continued to keep the Lions at bay and went
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Liberty hoping to bounce back after winless Christmas tourney
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — Winless heading into Daniel High School’s annual Christmas tournament, the Liberty Red Devil boys’ basketball team was hoping to improve against 
the talented teams at the tournament and potentially notch its first win.
The Red Devils opened the tournament last Wednesday taking on Westside, the fourth-ranked team in Class 4A. The Rams lived up to their billing from the start, hitting five three-pointers and getting strong play from leading scorer Zeke Marshall inside to build a 23-6 lead in the first quarter.
With the game slipping away, the Red Devils turned to swingman Jordan Burdette and he delivered,
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Blue Flame girls blast West-Oak
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Hoping to build on their best start in a decade, the Pickens Blue Flame girls’ basketball team hosted West-Oak last Thursday.
Behind a balanced effort and a big day on the boards, the Flame kept their momentum going in a 59-41 win over the Warriors.
“We wanted them to go all gas, and the girls stepped it up,” Pickens head coach Rikki Owens said. “The effort was there down the bench and on the court.”
That effort was apparent to Owens from the start, as the Blue Flame outscored West-Oak 16-6 in the opening quarter behind eight points from Sadie McKinney.
McKinney didn’t stop there, either, as the sophomore forward had a career night, putting up 21 points and
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