Georgetown aims to return to playoffs
By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown (03/10/10) As he approaches the 700-win plateau, Georgetown High head baseball coach Mike Johnson is hoping his team can return to the AAA state playoffs after missing the postseason a year ago.
That goal may be hard to reach for a few reasons. One, Johnson only has three seniors on the team. Two, region 7-AAA is one of the more competitive baseball conferences in the state. Finishing among the top four is not an easy thing to do.
However, Johnson feels this year?s team can and will compete for a playoff spot. While his 2010 team is fairly young, the coach sees plenty of talent.
?We always have high expectations here and missing the playoffs last year was disappointing, but that happens sometimes,? said Johnson. ?Getting to the playoffs is the number one goal because once you get in the playoffs, you have a chance to win the state championship. I feel like this team is capable of doing that but it won?t be easy in this region.?
Johnson says his team is not as far behind, due to poor weather, as many teams. They successfully completed four scrimmages during the preseason in preparation for this weekend?s IP Classic, which they host.
?I saw some good things in the preseason, we have some potential,? said Johnson. ?We have some things to work on too. We?re still a long ways from being the type of baseball team I want us to be.?
Anchoring the Bulldogs pitching staff this season will be seniors Sam Waldron, Austin Gray and Seth Johnson. All three, says the coach, are capable of competing on the mound and keeping the Bulldogs in every game.
Junior Jordan Johnson is a 6-2 side-armer and will see plenty of work. Juniors Trey Glenn and Dylan McConnell will pitch, as will Korey Ward and freshman southpaw Hunter Graham.
Waldron is the starting catcher and junior Patrick Ward will move from the outfield to behind the dish when Waldron is pitching. Sophomore Mack Jordan will also see action behind the plate in addition to playing some third base.
Gray and Seth Johnson will work in the infield as well, along with McConnell. Glenn also sees time at first and in the outfield. Junior Rodney Beach anchors the outfield in center and is the fastest player on the team. Junior Bryan Keitt will play in the outfield and freshman Nick Brown will serve as a utility player in the outfield and on the infield.
?We have a lot of kids who can play several positions so the defensive lineup can change around some without hurting us defensively,? said Johnson. ?This is a good group of young men. I really like our underclassmen group. We have some talent.?
Georgetown hanging tough despite adversity
By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown ? It has been a tough season for the Georgetown Bulldogs basketball team but coach Alvin ?Stitch? Walker continues to be impressed with his team?s fight.
Georgetown opened the season with six wins in their first nine games but has fallen on hard times of late. The Bulldogs have lost eight of their last 10 games and entered a key contest with Socastee on January 29th with a 1-4 region record.
Their latest loss, on January 26th, came in overtime to Myrtle Beach.
?We?ve been competing very well every night and this team plays with the heart of a champion,? said Walker. ?I can?t say enough about their effort and their attitude. They come to play every night. We?ve had some tough luck, some injuries here and there, but this team just keeps coming. We might surprise someone before it?s over. I think we?re very capable of beating some good teams down the stretch.?
Just before the start of region play, Georgetown lost leading scorer Avery Evans. He ended up missing the first three region games and is back to nearly full strength.
In the loss to Myrtle Beach, Georgetown lost a key performer off the bench, Brian Keith, to a broken wrist. The best three-point shooter on the team, Sam Kelly, has missed time of late as well.
?It?s one thing after another and there has been some adversity,? said Walker. ?The encouraging thing is we have a lot of kids giving a great effort and playing well for us.?
Senior Ben Grant is leading the team in scoring, averaging about 12 points per game. Marcus Archie and Perry Johnson have been playing solid minutes off the bench, according to Walker.
Sophomore Tevin Johnson continues to play well as a first-year starter. Walker is bringing up two promising freshmen from the junior varsity in forward A.J. Walker and center Anthony Blair.
?We?ll keep on plugging and fighting for everything we get,? said the coach. ?I love the way this team never gives up. We still have a chance to make the playoffs if we can put some wins together so we have a lot to play for. This season isn?t over yet.?
Georgetown hanging tough despite adversity
By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown ? It has been a tough season for the Georgetown Bulldogs basketball team but coach Alvin "Stitch" Walker continues to be impressed with his team's fight.
Georgetown opened the season with six wins in their first nine games but has fallen on hard times of late. The Bulldogs have lost eight of their last 10 games and entered a key contest with Socastee on January 29 th with a 1-4 region record.
Their latest loss, on January 26 th , came in overtime to Myrtle Beach.
"We've been competing very well every night and this team plays with the heart of a champion," said Walker. "I can't say enough about their effort and their attitude. They come to play every night. We've had some tough luck, some injuries here and there, but this team just keeps coming. We might surprise someone before it's over. I think we're very capable of beating some good teams down the stretch."
Just before the start of region play, Georgetown lost leading scorer Avery Evans . He ended up missing the first three region games and is back to nearly full strength.
In the loss to Myrtle Beach, Georgetown lost a key performer off the bench, Brian Keith , to a broken wrist. The best three-point shooter on the team, Sam Kelly , has missed time of late as well.
"It's one thing after another and there has been some adversity," said Walker. "The encouraging thing is we have a lot of kids giving a great effort and playing well for us."
Senior Ben Grant is leading the team in scoring, averaging about 12 points per game. Marcus Archie and Perry Johnson have been playing solid minutes off the bench, according to Walker.
Sophomore Tevin Johnson continues to play well as a first-year starter. Walker is bringing up two promising freshmen from the junior varsity in forward A.J. Walker and center Anthony Blair .
"We'll keep on plugging and fighting for everything we get," said the coach. "I love the way this team never gives up. We still have a chance to make the playoffs if we can put some wins together so we have a lot to play for. This season isn't over yet."
Walker sees potential in hard-working Bulldogs
By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown (12/22/09) Every coach copes with the loss of good players from year to year and the established, solid programs usually find a way to remain competitive with new players.
Georgetown High boys basketball coach Alvin "Stitch" Walker is faced with such a problem this season. Walker is looking at replacing his top two scorers from last season ? Devin Grant and Kinard Gadsden-Gilliard. No returning player to this year's team averaged more than six points per game and the entire returning group averaged less than 25 points total season.
"We don't have a lot of experience and that's a concern but we do have a group of very hard-working kids," said Walker. "We have a good group that will play hard until the final buzzer and that's a fun group to coach. We aren't the most talented team but we grind games out. We don't have a real go-to guy that can carry us but we can do some good things as a team. I think the more we play, the better we will get."
Georgetown is already off to a good start, having won six of their first nine games. One win included a one-point win over Loris after the Bulldogs fell behind, 17-2, early in the game.
"I think that's a sign of the type attitude this team has," said Walker. "They're not always going to win every game but they are going to give it a great effort. I like their never-say-die attitude."
Walker starts four seniors and a sophomore this season.
The starting point guard is Tevin Johnson, a sophomore. His backcourt mate is senior Avery Evans. Senior Jervay Muhammad is the starting small forward and senior Sam Kelly starts at the four. Senior Jadai Johnson is working in the middle and recorded back-to-back double-doubles in recent games.
Walker goes early and often to the bench and makes use of nine to 10 players in every game. The first two players off the bench are Brian Keith and Marcus Archie. Sophomore Aiswan Nelson has produced some solid outings off the bench as well.
Ben Grant, Perry Johnson and Shaquille Sargent also see time as reserves and contribute solid minutes.
Georgetown was picked to finish fifth in region 7-AAA this season. The region is loaded at the top with teams like Lake City, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach expected to be in the chase for the region title. Walker thinks his team can battle for fourth and a spot in the playoffs.
"It's a very tough region and we're one of the least experienced teams in the region so we know we've got a lot of work to do," said Walker. "We're looking forward to the challenge. We always set as a goal to make the state playoffs and we're not backing down from that goal."
Davis says Bulldogs are on the right track
By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown (11/17/09) A 2-8 record is not exactly what Tyrone Davis envisioned for his Georgetown High football team when the 2009 season began.
Davis knew his team would be young and inexperienced but had high hopes for a possible playoff berth as he watched his team develop in the preseason.
Things did not go as planned for the Bulldogs as they soon found out that the inexperience and youth would be too much to overcome this season.
"We didn't have a lot of seniors to begin with and then we had some injuries along the way, which forced us to play even more young kids than we had hoped to," said Davis. "That's tough to do against the schedule we have to play.
"The record was not what we wanted but I think when we look at the big picture, we did some good things and we saw an awful lot of young kids become better football players over the course of the season. We feel like we have things headed in the right direction."
If all goes as planned, nearly two-thirds of the players that were on the field at season's end should return next fall. And, Georgetown's junior varsity team won seven games this season, the most wins in several years.
"Two years ago, when I came here, the varsity was 1-9 the year before I came and the jayvee was 2-28 in their last three seasons," said Davis. "I knew right away we had to fix that problem and change the culture on the junior varsity level if we were going to change it on the varsity level. That jayvee team has some promising young players. We had a few of them up on the varsity at the end of the season and they responded well."
Georgetown's leading rusher this season was sophomore Leonard Leak, with more than 700 yards. Patrick Ward was the starting quarterback as a junior. Two of the top offensive linemen ? Darius Brown and Tyler Marsh ? were underclassmen.
Sophomore defensive tackle Leshawn Cromedy had over 60 tackles and led the team in sacks. Junior defensive back Jasmar Heyward had four interceptions. Sophomores Tevin Johnson and Devonte Geathers were productive as running backs and defensive backs.
"The nucleus is there to build around and we're already focusing on getting bigger, faster and stronger for next year," said Davis. "This off-season will be very important for us. We really feel like we can make huge improvements with the numbers we have returning."
Georgetown harriers compete in region meet
By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown (10/29/09) The fall sports season is winding down at Georgetown High School and the cross country teams at the school recently competed in the region 7-AAA meet.
The race was held at the Grand Park at Market Common in Myrtle Beach under sunny skies and mild temperatures.
Georgetown's boy's team had the better day of the two squads, finishing third in the five-team event. Georgetown scored 53 points. Myrtle Beach captured the region title with 29 points, taking four of the top 10 spots. Socastee was second with 44 points.
St. James finished in fourth place behind Georgetown and North Myrtle Beach was the fifth-place team.
For the Bulldogs, the top performance of the meet was turned in by Sammy Livingston, who came home in second place overall, just three seconds behind winner Eric Goings and Myrtle Beach. Livingston posted a race time of 17:21.
Georgetown's second finisher was Ben Grant, who came in fifth overall with a time of 17:54. Brandon Cribb finished in 13th place overall, posting a time of 18:57. The fourth Bulldog to cross the finish line was Spencer Morgan in 16th place with a time of 19:15. He finished one second ahead of teammate P.J. Brachna, who was 17th with a time of 19:16.
On the girl's side, Georgetown's top finisher was Kateland Todd, who finished in fourth-place overall. Todd posted a time of 21:42, which was just over two minutes off the winning time.
I t was more than five minutes later before the rest of the squad crossed the finish line. Jessica Eaddy finished in 27th place with a time of 26:50. Candace Livingston was close behind in 28th position with a time of 26:55.
Coming home in 29th place was Madeline Young with a time of 27:28 and Jordan Jones wrapped up the Georgetown contingent with a 32nd place finish and a time of 36:32.
Bulldogs facing tough stretch as regular season winds down
Staff report
Georgetown (10/14/09) - With only three games remaining in the 2009 regular season, the Georgetown High football team needs a strong finish if they hope to extend their season into the playoffs.
Georgetown entertains Socastee on October 16th and needs a win to keep their playoff chances alive. The Bulldogs are coming off a 28-7 loss to North Myrtle Beach, which dropped their record to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in region play.
Following the matchup with a solid Socastee squad, the Bulldogs face AAA state title contenders Myrtle Beach and Lake City. Both of those teams are ranked in the state AAA top 10 and are generally considered the two best teams in the region.
Regardless of how the season plays out in the end, the Bulldogs are getting some quality play from many players, including several underclassmen who will make the program stronger in the next few years.
Georgetown's top three rushers are sophomores, led by Leonard Leak. Leak is the team's leading rusher with 562 yards on only 68 carries. He has scored two touchdowns.
Tevin Johnson has gained 278 yards on only 32 carries and leads the team with three rushing touchdowns. Devante Geathers has gained 266 yards on only 37 carries.
Junior quarterback Patrick Ward has taken some lumps as he matures and improves. Ward has completed 23-of-44 passes for 286 yards. The team's leading receiver is junior Jasmar Hayward with five catches for 82 yards. Senior Jervey Muhammad has four catches for 70 yards and senior Justin Aklin has two receptions, both for touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, Hayward has intercepted four passes to lead the team. The team's leading tackler is linebacker Marcus Archie with 52.5 tackles. Aklin, a starter in the secondary, has 45 tackles and Trenton Grate, a defensive lineman, has 26.5 tackles and three sacks. Tackle Darius Brown also has three sacks to go with his 26 total tackles.
Senior Daunte Gardner has 23 tackles and junior linebacker Ernest Greene has 21 tackles.
In the kicking game, senior Brandon Lambert has made six of nine extra point attempts and has made field goals of 32 and 21 yards. Marcus Archie has returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Georgetown girl?s tennis wins first two matches
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By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown ( 09/16/09 ) - Despite having a relatively inexperienced team, the Georgetown High girl?s tennis team has opened 2009 with a pair of victories over Loris.
Coach Grace George feels her team will continue to improve but realizes a lack of experience will mean some tough days ahead.
The roster has 16 players as Georgetown does not cut any player who wishes to learn the game. Of those 16, only three are returning varsity players and there are only three seniors. The team lost eight seniors from last year?s team that finished third in the region standings.
?Experience is a big thing and we don?t have a lot of girls who have played a lot of tennis,? said George, now in her sixth season. ?We may struggle some this year. Our hope is that with so many young girls, some of them will take a liking to the sport and will commit to improving over the next few years. This is a sport that takes a year-round commitment. We have some who seem to be developing that attitude so we?ll see how it turns out.?
The top two players this season are juniors Carolyn Lazzari and Katherine Small, who play the number one and two singles positions and team up as the number one doubles team.
Lazzari was an all-region pick last year as the number two singles player. Small played number five singles last year.
Three seniors with little combined experience occupy the other singles positions. Chelsea Cooper plays number three, Allison Howell plays four and Kati Nease plays five singles. Nease is the only other returning varsity player, along with Lazzari and Small.
Forming the number two doubles team are eighth-graders Abby Siau and Anna Walsh, who show potential to move into singles play in the near future.
?We?re scheduling some jayvee matches for the other girls on the team who are learning the game and trying to improve so that will help a lot in terms of the future,? said George.
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Georgetown volleyball looking forward to a great season
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By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown ( 09/09/09 )- - With an extremely young team, Georgetown volleyball coach Kristen Liner took some big-time lumps last season.
Now, with all of that team returning this fall, things are looking a lot better for the Lady Bulldogs as the season begins. Liner has only one senior on this year?s team so the roster is still young. However, in terms of experience, the team is way ahead of where they were last season.
?The year of experience has really helped us become a better team overall,? said Liner. ?We have much better chemistry and they are working really hard together. Last year was all about learning and finding out how to play. This year we are competing. I am very interested to see how much we improve. I think we have a great shot at making the playoffs this year.?
The team?s lone senior is setter Cinqwetta Cox, who controls the floor and provides the leadership. There are two juniors ? Hillary Caddell and Adreanne Singleton ? and both are middle hitters.
Sophomores on the club include setter Ashley Young, outside hitter Carson Shelley, and outside hitter Janell Reid. Rounding out the squad are freshmen Bevin Carr, a setter, and outside hitter Kathleen Oldaker, along with freshman back row specialist Kelsey Fulton.
?As you can see, we have only two juniors so we have the bulk of this team back for three years,? said Liner. ?We have a great group of girls. I feel comfortable putting any of them out on the floor and I couldn?t say that last year.?
Georgetown opened the season last week with a win over Andrews and participated in a tri-match with Waccamaw and Andrews on September 10th.
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Bulldogs face another rival as they visit Andrews this week
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By David Shelton
Consulting Managing Editor
Georgetown ? Crazy things can happen when rivals Georgetown and Andrews meet on the football field and the two teams do battle this Friday night in the annual rivalry game.
Both teams are 0-1 heading into the game. Andrews lost to Lamar in week one while the Bulldogs lost to another area rival, Carver?s Bay, 25-7. Georgetown coach Tyronne Davis expects the usual physical, emotional game with Andrews.
?We?re just a few miles apart really and the kids at both schools know each other,? said Davis . ?We have two coaches on our staff from over that way. It?s a big rivalry game for us. It should be hard-hitting and intense. Andrews played pretty well in their first game. We expect they will be improved this week. Our goal is to be a better football team as well.?
Georgetown was competitive with the Class A power Carver?s Bay last week. After falling behind quickly, 13-0, the Bulldogs used a defensive touchdown ? a fumble return by Justin Aklin ? to cut the margin to 13-7. The score stayed that way until late in the fourth when Carver?s Bay added two late scores to pull away.
?Our kids played hard and I was really proud of the way they responded when we got down so quickly,? said Davis . ?We could have quit and ended up losing by 40 points but they battled. We saw some good plays and we made some mistakes. We have some work to do but the mistakes we made can be fixed. We?ve got nine more games and I think we?ll continue to improve.?
Aklin, the free safety, finished the game with 10 tackles. Jasmar Hayward added an interception and linebacker Marcus Archie had 16 solo tackles.
?I was real impressed with our effort defensively,? said Davis .
Offensively, Davis was pleased with the poise showed by junior quarterback Patrick Ward and backup running back Tevin Johnson ran strong and physical, according to the coach.
?We are a work in progress along the offensive line and those young guys will get better,? said Davis . ?We have a chance to be a good offense as we gain some experience.?
