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Goose Creek teams eyeing strong finishes

By Rob Gantt

Special to the HSSR

Goose Creek – The basketball teams at Goose Creek High School are having solid seasons as usual this winter.

The Lady Gators (18-4, 5-0 region) enter the home stretch with the region crown all but locked up and the boys team has a good shot at second place. Both region finishes lead to home playoff games.

They completed a series sweep of Stratford on Friday, Jan. 27, with the girls winning 47-18 and the boys following with a 63-45 win over the Knights.

The Lady Gators (18-4, 5-0 Region 7-AAAA) jumped on Stratford early and were never seriously challenged.

“I thought we came out with a lot of intensity in the first quarter,” Lady Gators coach Tim Baldwin said. “We got out big. Definitely with our press we got some easy buckets.”

Junior Ashley Fields poured in 18 points and senior N’Dea Bryant scored in 14 points for the Lady Gators.

Brendysha Liner added seven points.

A win Friday, Feb. 3 against West Ashley would lock up a first-place finish in the region and a top seed for the playoffs, which begin later this month.

The Lady Gators defeated West Ashley 46-29 on Jan. 17.

In the boys game against Stratford, post players Troy Tucker and DeShawn Evans made their marks known. It was an important moment for the Gators, whose scoring load have been carried by guards Rae Robinson and Dantez Bennamon this season. Both average well over 20 points a game for the Gators.

“We knew if we didn’t have high intensity, they’d be able to give us a run for our money,” said Evans, who led the Gators with a season-high 19 points against Stratford. “We came out here, worked as a team and didn’t get full of ourselves. We kept the momentum going.”

The Gators (16-4, 3-2 region) went on an 11-2 run to end the second quarter and outscored the Knights 14-4 in the third quarter to pull away.

“Once we started going full court, they started not being able to handle some of the pressure,” Goose Creek boys coach Bruce Walls said. “We were able to get some turnovers and we made a really good push.”

Friday’s West Ashley game will be for second place in the region. West Ashley edged Goose Creek 51-50 on a last-second shot on Jan. 17.

 

 

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Defensively, Reedy said linebacker Malcolm Howard is playing as well as any player in the Lowcountry. He also praised the play of defensive backs LC McCloud and Albert Kirk along with linebacker Dontavia Reid and the entire group rotating in along the defensive front.
 

Gators heading across town to meet rivals

By Rob Gantt
Special writer
     Goose Creek - The Goose Creek Gator football team begins defense of their Region 7-AAAA crown this week on the other side town at rival Stratford.
     The Gators (3-2) will be going for their third straight victory in the series. Goose Creek coach Chuck Reedy can see on film, though, that these Knights are better than the ones they played last year.
     "On defense, they are the same as they've always been," Reedy said. "They play very hard. They're much better, in my opinion, than they were a year ago. Offensively, their quarterback (Chris Hanna) throws it well and he's fairly mobile. They've got some good receivers? It's going to be a test."
     The Knights are 3-2 overall and need just one more win to eclipse their win total from all of last season.
     Hanna has thrown for over 800 yards, while running back Devin Washington has over 500 yards on the ground.
     Both teams are coming off losses. Goose Creek was shut out by Fort Dorchester 18-0 and Stratford lost to Summerville 38-19.
     "It's the region games that have a really significant impact on our season," Reedy said. "That counts more toward the playoffs and seedings."
     The Gators have been productive on the ground as usual this fall. Running backs Ranoy Hines and Virgil Smalls have over 300 yards rushing and Mike Myers is another effective runner.
     All three have topped the 100-yard mark in a game this season behind blocking efforts led by Brandon Shell (6-7, 315).
     Quarterbacks Jaquan Marsh and Zach Lavery have split time under center for the Gators and both have been effective leading the offense.
     Defensively, senior linebackers Malcolm Howard and Dontavia Reid are the anchors. As a whole, the Gators have been very good on that side of the ball.
     Fort D only had 148 yards of total offense. Goose Creek couldn't overcome four turnovers in losing for the fifth time in a row against the Patriots.