SPORTS REPORT
Team WHHI was in The Nest for Hilton Head High basketball where the Seahawks took on the rival Bluffton Bobcats.
The Cats clawed out a sweep in the Den earlier this month, and Bluffton’s red-hot girls came out swinging with a 51-35 win behind 23 points from star Tacoya Heyward. The Bobcats have won 14 straight and are 18-1 on the season.
But another sweep was not in the cards for the Cats thanks to stellar all-around effort from the Hilton Head boys, who revived their fading playoff outlook with a 60-42 win after an 0-4 start to region play.
Elsewhere in Region 7-4A, Colleton County’s boys knocked off frontrunner James Island to jump into a tie atop the standings, and Lucy Beckham swept May River, halting the boys’ three-game winning streak.
Our friends at Beaufort’s Own were in The Palace in Burton for the rematch between rivals Battery Creek and Beaufort. The Eagles swept the first meetings in a pair of donnybrooks, and it was more of the same in round 2. Both matchups were competitive throughout, and the girls game went down to the wire with Carson Crosby sinking the game-winning free throw to lift the Eagles to a 35-34 win.
The boys game was a scrap, as well, but the Dolphins couldn’t knock down enough shots down the stretch to keep pace, as AJ Newton controlled the paint for Beaufort with 17 points and 13 rebounds in a 51-41 win that solidifies the Eagles’ hold on third place and drops Creek to 0-4 in region play with a huge game at Hanahan looming Tuesday.
I headed over to the Warrior Coliseum at John Paul the 2nd on Friday for a Lowco-on-Lowco showdown between the Golden Warriors and Hilton Head Christian Academy. JPII’s girls have been on the rise the past couple of seasons and hoped to have the firepower to hang with the HHCA juggernaut this time around, but the Eagles’ dynamic backcourt of Devon Yarde and Mya Hutchinson proved to be too much to handle.
Yarde poured in 30 points and dished out seven assists, and Hutchinson added 27 points along with nine rebounds and five dishes to lead HHCA to a 69-50 win.
JPII’s boys have seen a big turnaround this season and appeared poised to pull off a big win against a short-handed Eagles team that was down to seven players dressed – one of whom returned from the school musical in a pinch – but HHCA dug deep as Isaiah Anderson kept the Eagles in it in the first half and Elijah White took over in the fourth quarter of a hard-fought 56-49 win.
Both HHCA teams took tough losses at home against Brunswick on Saturday, 48-44 in the girls game and 57-41 in the boys contest.
In other key games Friday, the Cross girls beat Hilton Head Prep by 20 in an impressive showing, Hampton County’s boys stayed perfect in region with a win over Woodland, and the Whale Branch boys earned a big win over Bethune-Bowman.
The USCB Sand Sharks had a tough afternoon at Flagler College on Saturday, as the women came up short in a 70-59 defeat and the men went ice cold from outside and were routed 97-68 by the Saints. USCB is back home in The Cove on Wednesday against Columbus State.
And it was a big weekend on the wrestling mats, especially for the girls with the middle school state championships and the high school Lower State qualifier on tap. Seven young women will rep the Lowco at the state tournament, as May River’s Vivian Urriola and Bluffton’s Jada Lawrence won their weight classes, while Hilton Head’s Rosa Olivetti and Ani Mariano, Whale Branch’s Gigi Rosario and Marry Black, and Colleton County’s Amaya LaPresta also placed in the top four to advance to state.
The next generation of female hammers showed their stuff at the Carolina Invitational, where Bluffton Middle’s Aimery Alvarez and Hilton Head Middle’s Lizeth Diaz-Morales claimed state titles, Lady’s Island’s Kamryn Fields was runner-up in her weight class, and Bluffton’s Jordan Heaton and Lady Island’s Kamryn Fields placed fourth. Awesome stuff.
And the guys also got after it Saturday at the Region 7-4A meet at Bluffton High School, where May River advanced all 14 wrestlers to the Lower State qualifier with seven champions. Bluffton sent 12 wrestlers through with three champs, while Hilton Head had 10 qualifiers and one champion and Colleton County advanced eight wrestlers with one champion.
Justin Jarrett, Lowco Sports
Last Night in the LowCo
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WHHI Daily News Anchor: Bob Stevens
January 2024
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