Injuries hinder Williamsburg boys in finish to season
Stallions finish with 12-6 record, still reach AAA playoffs
Kingstree – The Williamsburg Academy boys basketball team came flying out of the gate at the start of the 2023-24 season. The Stallions won their first nine games and appeared to have a good team dynamic.
Then right around Christmas, Williamsburg’s 6-foot-2-icnh center Corey Burts went down with a knee injury. That drastically affected what the Stallions did on both ends of the floor. He missed four games, and when he returned, he wasn’t as effective as he had been, according to head coach Kevin Burrows.
Williamsburg ended up finishing the year with a 12-6 record and losing in the first round of the SCISA AAA state playoffs.
“When he suffered that injury, it kind of changed the dynamic of what we like to do offensively and defensively,” said Burrows, who just completed his fifth season in charge of the boys program. :"He did so much for us as far as defensively being a presence and offensively giving us some points on putbacks and how he can roam the middle.
“That injury really affected what we wanted to do the rest of the season as far as our size and what we like to do offensively and defensively. That injury he suffered kind of changed the entire season. I had to make some changes on what I like to do.”
What Burrows liked to do at the start of the season was have Burts taking care of things down low with fellow starters Wes Smith, Conrad Balder and Teague Ward, all of them seniors, and sophomore Micah Balder setting up around the perimeter and firing away.
“We started off the season averaging about 75 or 80 points a game, playing really good defense,” Burrows said. “When Corey went down that kind of changed things. We had some games that we could have won where we didn’t have the chemistry that we had until the last three or four games.”
Williamsburg’s season came to an end with a 63-46 loss to Spartanburg Day School in a first-round game at Wilson Hall’s Nash Student Center in Sumter.
Conrad Balder led Williamsburg with 10 points. Smith and Ward both had nine, and Micah Balder had seven. Most of the Stallions’ points didn’t come until the fourth quarter when the game was pretty much decided.
“We couldn’t get into a rhythm, but we are a rhythm-shooting team,” Burrows said. “Our ball movement wasn’t as crisp as it should have been for us to get into our rhythm and get open shots.
“Spartanburg did a good job of spreading out and not giving us the open 3-point shot, which we live and die by,” Burrows added. “We took what they gave us, which is the 2-poitn basket, and we couldn’t get in our offense where we could shoot 3-point shots.”
DJ Bey spelled Burts while he was out and remained a big part of the rotation even after his return.
“DJ improved a lot and really stepped up,” Burrows said.
Burrows has no complaints with the effort and toughness his team showed throughout the season.
“Overall, we had a good season, a great season,” Burrows said. “The guys continued to play hard. That’s all you can ask for is for the guys to play hard and give it all they’ve got, and that’s what we did.”
Burts led the Stallions in scoring, averaging 14.6 points per game. Smith averaged 12.7, Conrad Balder 10.3, Teague Ward 8.7, Micah Balder 6.7, Bey 6.6 and Caleb Wright 6.5.
The Stallions missed out on the playoffs last year, so getting back this season was a good thing. Still, Burrows has his laments while thinking about what might have been.
“We really had expectations to go further into the playoffs,” Burrows said. “That was our goal. The group of guys that I had they had been with me since they were in the eighth or ninth grade.
“I know it’s over with, but I wish we had the Corey before the injury than the one we have now,” Burrows said while in no way putting any blame on Burts. “An injury can really do something to a high school player. You can lose confidence with a knee injury and start playing hesitant.”
Williamsburg finished 12-6 overall and 4-4 in Region 2. The Stallions opened 3-0 with victories over Florence Christian School (52-47), Pee Dee Academy (51-48) and Carolina Academy (74-49).
The Stallions suffered their first overall and region loss to eventual state runner-up Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach by a 64-28 count. That was followed by an 80-70 loss to Florence Christian and a 50-30 to Pee Dee.
They then beat Carolina Academy again to snap the region losing streak before falling to Christian Academy at home, this time by a much closer 53-43 count.
WILLIAMSBURG GIRLS WIN ONE GAME
The Williamsburg girls basketball team posted a 1-14 record. Despite that, Burrows – who is also the girls coach – believes this was a learning experience for a young squad.
“My girls are mainly ninth- and 10th-graders. I had some seniors, but the strength of my team are ninth- and 10th-graders,” Burrows said. “With a little bit of work over the summer, next year we’ll be better.
“We’ve got some good prospects on the JV (junior varsity) girls too. So hopefully over the summer they’ll do the necessary things and I can work with them. And we’re hoping it will be a better game for the girls next year.”
The Williamsburg roster was made up of starters Kate Wilson, Audrey Wadford, Tristan Burrows, Rebecca Holliday and Anna Brown. Wadford was the Lady Stallions’ leading scorer at 8.2 points a contest. Holliday averaged 2,7 points, Wilson 2.3, Burrows 2.0 and Brown 1.7.
Burrows made liberal use of his entire bench so Makayla Rogers, Amelia Floyd, Essence Frazier, Logan Graham, Carmela Jacobs and Sophie Kellahan all gained ample experience. Kellahan averaged 2.0 points.
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