Crestwood boys basketball team comes through big week unscathed
Knights use attacking pressure on both ends of floor for success
Sumter – The Crestwood High School boys basketball team knew it had a big week ahead starting on Monday, January 22. The Knights, ranked No. 1 in the High School Sports Report AAA poll, had three games scheduled – on Monday at Lake City, on Wednesday at No. 2 Darlington and on Friday at home against then No. 15 Marlboro County.
When all was said and done, Crestwood had solidified its hold on the top spot. The Knights beat Lake City 76-50, Darlington 62-50 and Marlboro County 63-42. That left them with a 20-1 overall record and a 6-0 mark in Region 6.
Crestwood head coach Aric Samuel was pleased with how the Knights handled the big week, especially on Friday after the big win over Darlington just two days before.
“That was the big concern, how we would perform in a big conference game coming off of a big win,” said Samuel, who guided Crestwood to the state championship game last season. “I'm very proud of them. I thought they competed, I thought they played hard.
“We knew Marlboro would come to play. They're having a great season. We knew they would come in ready to play, and I thought the guys came in ready to play. To come back on a Friday night and not take Marlboro County for granted was big.”
Crestwood had four region games left, starting with a home game against Darlington on Monday. A win there would secure the region title and give the Knights the No. 1 seed from the region in the state playoffs.
There is no doubt what Crestwood likes to do on both ends of the floor – be in the face of the opposition as much as possible.
“Our goal as always is pressure, 94 feet with defense and offense,” Samuel said. “I thought out defense was really good tonight, getting the ball out quick and attacking early. We eventually wore them down. We caught them in some tighter spots and were able to exploit it and increase our lead.”
The Knights are able to be in your face because of a long, athletic group of players that Samuel doesn’t hesitate to bring in and out in different combinations. Samuel said his main concern is the team maintaining a steady level of intensity.
"We're starting to improve with our effort,” he said. “Sometimes when you have a lot of success sometimes you tend to take it for granted. Now that the playoffs are starting to approach, we're stressing to pick up the intensity. We're playing with a little more intensity on defense, we're a little more focused and doing a good job with assignment basketball.”
While the Knights have 10 players who see regular action in the rotation, there are six who produce most of the numbers. They had four players scoring in double figures through the first 17 games.
Junior Shannon Davis was leading the way with an average of 15.8 points per game. He was followed by fellow junior Xavier Johnson with a 13.8 average, senior Aaron Coleman with a 13.4 average, and 6-foot-8-inch junior Teon Tindal with an 11.8 average.
Davis also led the way in assists at 3.6 and steals at 2.2 to go with 4.9 rebounds. The 6-4 Coleman was averaging 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals, while Johnson was averaging 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals.
“He's our unsung hero,” Samuel said of Johnson. “You can talk about a lot of people, but if you watch him, he's steady. He’s our unsung hero on both ends of the court. He brings it every night.”
Tindal’s presence in the paint allows Crestwood to be so aggressive on defense. He led the team in rebounding at 8.5 and was blocking 5.1 shots per contest. That doesn’t take into account the number of shots he alters in a game.
Junior
Jaheim Jones is the other starter. He was averaging 4.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals. Junior Riley Durant was coming off the bench averaging 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Other players getting key minutes are seniors Jaden Stephens, Tykeem Johnson, BJ Burgess and Nehemiah Pope.
While wanting to push the issue offensively, Samuel thinks playing under control is a necessity for his team to be successful.
“The turnover margin is probably the most important stat in basketball,” he said. “We want to make sure we win in that. We want to make sure we take care of the ball and not give up easy points.”
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