Coaching legend finding success at Carolina Academy
Lake City – The list of high school basketball coaches in South Carolina high school history that have won more games than Perry Stokes has is a pretty short list.
Stokes is nearing his 750th career coaching victory in his first season as the girls coach at Carolina Academy. A member of two Hall of Fames in the state, Stokes won two state titles (2002. 2012) and earned five state runner-up trophies in his 37 seasons as the girls coach at Timmonsville High.
He also spent two seasons at Johnsonville and spent the last three seasons at East Clarendon High. Stokes thought he was officially retired from coaching but felt the tug once more when Carolina Academy came calling.
The coach has experienced plenty of adversity over his storied career but admits the challenges at Carolina Academy have been somewhat unique. The 2023-24 roster has just six players, all seniors. There is a major lack of basketball players in grades 9 through 11.
“It has been a challenge but I will say these six girls give everything they have,” said Stokes, who also won more than 400 games as Timmonsville’s baseball coach. “ I have zero complaints about their attitude or their effort. They play hard and they compete. From that aspect, they are as good as any team I’ve ever coached.”
Despite a lack of numbers and depth, Carolina Academy has indeed been very competitive. Entering play on Jan. 26, the Bobcats were 13-6 overall with key region games filling out the regular season schedule over the last three weeks.
While overall Stokes does not have the talent this season that he has had on former teams, he says this team has learned to play with what they have.
“In the end, it’s basketball so it’s all relative,” the coach said. “Some of the teams that we play are pretty good. There are plenty of challenges but we just show up and play hard and see what happens.”
The team’s leader and most experienced player is senior guard Ruby Kate Amos, who averages about 16 points per game. Amos is a fifth-year varsity player and recently scored her 1.000th career point.
Point guard Zaniya McClam also brings a lot of experience to the floor and is averaging 10.2 points per game.
Another starter is senior guard Esther Campbell, who Stokes calls “our sparkplug. She will do whatever is needed and plays with a lot of energy.”
Rounding out the starting lineup are seniors Dakota Jernigan and Abbie Turner, with senior Gabby Hewitt coming off the bench at any position needed.
Stokes says the program does have a junior varsity team consisting of 6th-8th graders. That unit will make up most of the varsity roster next season so Stokes decided to keep them together instead of bringing players up as reserves.
However, Stokes is forced to dip into the junior varsity team for at least a game or two. Two of his current six varsity players, including Amos, are nursing ankle sprains.
“Pretty tough to be playing these region games short-handed but we will do the best we can,” the coach said. “Hopefully they won’t miss too many games and we can finish at full strength.”
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