Category Archives: Sports
Liberty boys’ comeback falls short in loss to Ninety Six
LIBERTY — The Liberty Red Devils boys’ basketball team came out swinging against the Ninety Six Wildcats on Jan. 11, and at the half, they found themselves tied at 27-27.
In the second half, the Red Devils’ favors flipped, as they struggled offensively, allowed Ninety Six get ahead and, despite a late comeback, fell 48-43.
“I just told them I’m proud of the way they played a full 32 minutes on the defensive end,” Liberty coach Jonathan Dilworth said. “We talked about it pregame that defense was going to dictate a lot of offense. When you hold that team to 48 points, you’re going to win most
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Flame blast Eagle Ridge
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — After playing one of their best games of the season against Liberty before the holiday break, the Pickens Blue Flame girls’ basketball team returned to action last week against the Next School Eagle Ridge Eagles.
Despite the break, the Blue Flame showed no holiday rust, scoring a season high as they defeated the Eagles 69-14 on Jan. 4.
“I like the way they’ve taken charge,” Pickens head coach Rikki Owens said. “All season I was worried if you take (all-region eighth-grader Ava Owens) out, who’s going to be ‘the guy?’ We’ve got
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Stingy defense helps Green Wave girls defeat Patriots
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — After a disappointing championship loss to J.L. Mann at Eastside High School’s New Year’s Classic over the holiday break, the Easley Green Wave girls’ basketball team knew it needed to get back on track against the Powdersville Patriots on Wednesday night.
The Green Wave responded with one of their strongest defensive performances of the season in a 43-31 win.
“Our goal heading out of that tournament was to clean it up,” Easley head coach Ivan
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Pickens boys bounce back against Eagles
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Coming off an 0-3 finish at Landrum High School’s Battle at the Border over the holiday break, the Pickens Blue Flame boys’ basketball looked to bounce back against the Next School Eagle Ridge Eagles last week.
The Blue Flame did just that, overpowering the Eagles in an 81-38 win on Jan. 4.
“We needed that confidence-wise, I think,” Pickens head coach Jeff Harrelson said. “We had a good start to the season, but we kind of sputtered for a couple weeks. Any time you can get back on the winning side it helps, especially with region starting next week.”
Propelling the resurgent win was the play of junior forward Coley Gillian. Gillian used his height advantage to make multiple plays down low and even flashed his strong perimeter game by making two three-pointers in a 17-point outing.
“He can and he should hit those,” Harrelson said of Gillian’s outside shots. “He should be dominant down low, too, so I was happy to see him bounce back.”
The Blue Flame flared early, with Gillian picking up seven points in the opening period and Parker Mitchum and Daniel
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Late run dooms Easley boys against Powdersville
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — The Easley Green Wave boys’ basketball team seemed on track to right the ship last Wednesday night against the Powdersville Patriots.
The Green Wave, who etered the game just 2-10, led for almost the entire game against a tough Powdersville team and entered the fourth ahead 43-39.
However, a 12-0 run by the Patriots to start the fourth put them ahead for good, leading to a 56-51 loss for Easley.
“The best thing I can say about my bunch is they are giving me everything they’ve got,” Easley head coach Michael Jones said. “They’re playing hard, we just missed some easy shots, had some bad turnovers and most of all, we got beat up on the boards.”
As has been an issue all season, the Green Wave continued to be bitten by the injury bug, as senior guard Princeton Rhodes missed the game.
With such a close finish, Jones said he believed Rhodes’ playmaking may have been able to make a difference in the final result.
While Rhodes missed the game with injury, the Green Wave were thankful to have all-state senior guard Kain James back in the lineup after he missed time earlier in the season.
James, coming off a 29-point performance against Woodmont, paced the Green Wave again in the contest.
In the first, things stayed close as Powdersville’s Kidd Brizek flashed his scoring prowess to the tune of nine early points. The Green Wave countered his early buckets with three three-point field goals, including two by A.J. Brown and a last-second make by Todd Williams, to keep the game tied at 11-11 at the end of the first quarter.
James came alive for the Green Wave in the second quarter, putting up 12 of his 18 points in a scoring clinic to build the lead. His most impressive shot came at the end of the period with the Green Wave up just 28-26. Holding the ball as time wound down in the quarter, James drilled a three-pointer with less than 0.5 seconds left to give Easley a 31-26 halftime advantage.
The Patriots tried to close the gap in the third, but a strong quarter by Easley big Jordan Fortenberry kept the Green Wave lead at 43-39 heading into the fourth.
Trouble came for Easley from the start of the final stanza. An early basket cut the lead to 43-41, then Williams went out with an injury. Already without Rhodes, the loss of another lead ballhandler proved costly as Powdersville took control.
With the offense stalling, Easley’s best hope was to get defensive stops, but even when they did, Powdersville’s 6-foot-7 big man Hayden Assemian was there to clean up with an offensive rebound and a putback.
By the time Fortenberry scored on a putback of his own with 4:01 left in the game, a four-point Easley lead had turned into a six-point Patriot lead.
Another bucket by Fortenberry and a basket by a returning Williams cut the lead to four with two minutes remaining, but Assemian continued to keep the Green Wave at bay with his strong interior rebounding.
Down 55-51 with 24 seconds left, the Green Wave’s struggles on the board ended any chance they had at a victory as they allowed offensive rebounds off of two sets of missed free throws and fell 56-51.
“It was huge,” Jones said of Powdersville’s late rebounding advantage. “(Assemian) was just so overpowering, and that really changed the game for us. He’s a good player, and they use him well.”
With the loss, the Green Wave dropped to 2-11 on the season, but Jones hopes the team can still change its destiny heading into region play.
The Green Wave returned to action on Tuesday against Westside, with results unavailble at press time.
Powdersville 56, Easley 51
PHS 11 15 13 17 — 56
EHS 11 20 12 8 — 51
Easley (51) — James 18, Fortenberry 12, A.J. Brown 8, Williams 5, Bowens 3, Young 3, Leavell 2.
Powdersville (56) — Brizek 19, Assemian 14, Williams 10, Sweet 8, Richardson 3, Kreger 2.
Pickens club volleyball team wins tournament
PICKENS — The Pickens Carolina One 18 Elite volleyball team went 6-0 at the January Jam in North Charleston over the weekend and captured the championship among some of the best teams in South Carolina.
The Pickens Carolina One club volleyball team, which goes by the name “Pride,” features upper-level players from five area high schools — Pickens, Belton-Honea Path, Easley, Walhalla and Wren. Pride is coached by Pickens’ Nikki Anthony, who won four state volleyball championships at Pickens High School and played volleyball at Florida State University. The assistant coach is Stephanie Cuddy, also of
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Pickens County basketball teams compete in holiday tournaments
COUNTY — With region play beckoning this month, five of Pickens County’s eight high school basketball teams participated in tournaments over the holidays in the hopes of improving their team as they head into the meat of their schedule.
One of the most successful teams over the break was the Easley High School girls’ basketball team. The Green Wave, competing in the New Year’s Classic hosted by Eastside High School, went 2-1 in tournament play and finished as
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Milestone win concludes atypical season for Swinney and Tigers
By Alex Dodd
Courtesy The Journal
news@thepccourier.com
ORLANDO, Fla. — When the Clemson football team dropped to 4-3 on the season after a lopsided loss at Pittsburgh on Oct. 23, many wrote off any possibility of a positive finish to the Tigers’ season.
But Dabo Swinney and his team stayed the course.
The Tigers capped off their 11th straight 10-win season — becoming just the third program in college football history to achieve the feat — last week with a 20-13 win over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
During Swinney’s tenure, Clemson has won a pair of national titles, played in six straight College Football Playoffs and won the ACC seven times in the last decade.
However, this season proved to be perhaps his best, as he became just the third college football
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Lions fall short in Christmas tourney
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — After winning their first two games last week, the Daniel High School boys’ basketball team moved on to the finals of its annual Christmas tournament against Wade Hampton on Thursday.
The Lions, however, came just short of championship glory, falling 59-50 to the Generals in the championship game.
“They did a really good job offensively of pushing the ball,” Daniel head coach Ben Touchberry said of Wade Hampton following the loss. “Defensively, they did a really good job of stopping our penetration and
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Pickens girls win pair heading into Christmas
PICKENS — The Pickens High School Lady Blue Flame picked up two wins earlier this month to head into the Christmas break with a 5-4 overall record.
“This team is so much fun to watch grow together,” Pickens coach Rikki Owens said. “They are
getting better with court awareness, game situations and the chemistry among each other. Despite adversity, they have the best attitudes, and we are starting to get on the radar for hard competition. These girls are a force to be reckoned with, for sure.”
In a Dec. 13 home game,the Lady Blue Flame defeated the Lady Mustangs of Palmetto High School, 52-36. Eighth-grade guard Ava Owens led the Lady Blue Flame with 14 points, 12 steals, nine rebounds
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