Hammond football players to be honored at banquet
By David Shelton
Senior Writer
Columbia - Head coach Erik Kimrey and several members of the Hammond football team will be honored by the High School Sports Report at the publication’s annual fall sports awards banquet.
The football portion of the 2011 banquet will be held on Sunday, February 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Seawell’s Restaurant in Columbia.
Hammond captured a sixth consecutive SCISA class AAA state championship with a 13-9 win over Wilson Hall in November. Kimrey, who has a 91-9 record in eight seasons as head coach, has been named the SCISA Statewide Coach of the Year by the High School Sports Report.
The top award presented by the publication each year is the SCISA Mr. Football award. This year’s award is shared by Hammond athlete B.J. Bennett and Porter-Gaud quarterback Hudson Worthy.
Despite missing a few games to injury, Bennett still was the main offensive weapon for the Skyhawks this season. He finished this season with 1,155 yards and 22 touchdowns, all on 116 carries. He also caught 29 passes for 418 yards and five more touchdowns.
Bennett posted outstanding numbers in his four-year career in the program. The 6-1, 195-pounder amassed a school-record 4,621 total offensive yards. He rushed for 3,187 yards and 50 touchdowns while catching 96 passes for 1,434 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Bennett recently announced a verbal commitment to play at Elon University.
Junior quarterback David Nidiffer, a first-year starter in 2011, was named the SCISA class AAA Offensive Co-Player of the Year. Nidiffer completed 138-of-247 passes for 2,553 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Junior defensive tackle Roo Daniels was tabbed as the SCISA AAA Defensive Player of the Year after posting 80 tackles and six sacks this season. Daniels also earned all-state honors on offense, having been a three-year starter at center and considered the state’s best private school lineman.
Selected to the HSSR SCISA AAA all-state team from Hammond are sophomore Patrick Kneece (OL/DL), sophomore Doak Fisher (WR), junior Braden Shockley (DB) and sophomore Cannon Smith (TE).
All four players will be honored at the banquet as well.
University of South Carolina assistant coach Steve Spurrier, Jr. will deliver the keynote speech at the event.
Hammond girls aiming for a better future in hoops
By David Shelton
Senior Writer
Columbia – Roshan Myers’ first season as the girls basketball coach at Hammond School has not gone as he expected but the coach is optimistic about the future of the program.
Myers, who has coached primarily on the AAU summer circuit, accepted the position at Hammond late in the summer. He had offered to help out as an assistant because his children attended Hammond but was asked to be the head coach just as school was starting last fall.
Myers inherited what he thought was a team with some experience but knew the 2011-12 season might be a learning year with several underclassmen expected to be significant players. Then came the injuries.
The team’s only senior, Jackie Rice, injured an ankle on the first practice and has missed the entire season.
In the first game of the season, starting point guard junior Amoshia Blakeney, the team’s best player, tore an ACL in her knee. It was the same injury she suffered four games into last season.
“Losing Amoshia was a back-breaker,” said Myers. “She’s a great ball-handler and a good scorer. She would have been a big boost to us on both ends of the floor. It’s so unfortunate that she is missing a second straight year in high school. She worked hard to get back and she was able to play last summer. She was looking forward to a great year with Hammond and it happened again. She has another year left so hopefully her senior year can be a good one.
With Blakeney out, Myers was left without a true experienced point guard and a roster void of experience at the varsity level. While he does have six juniors, Myers says the number of varsity minutes returning was few due to a veteran Hammond team last year.
“In terms of playing experience, this was a very young team when we started,” said the coach. “We basically don’t have a lot of scoring ability. We have a lot of girls who hustle all over the floor and they give a great effort, but we have no scoring.
“Basically we have been working a lot on skill development while trying to play games. It’s been all about learning and getting better. We have not had the success that we had hoped to have but I do think there is good basketball ahead for this group.”
Two juniors that are gaining valuable experience as starters after serving as backups a year ago include forward Catherine Herring and point guard Carolina Penland. Herring is averaging about eight points per game, more than double what she scored last season. Penland has developed into a solid three-point shooting threat while learning to play the point.
Eighth-grader Amelia Green has been Hammond’s most consistent scoring threat, averaging about 13 points per game.
“She carries us offensively,” said Myers. “She had some adjusting to do, coming from the jayvee to the varsity level but she shows a lot of promise as a player. If we can get Blakeney back with her next year, we have something.”
Sophomore Dorian Green is a 5-8 post player that has been playing with great effort despite being out-sized. Sophomores Ellie Locke and Caroline Reed excel in other sports but have become solid contributors in basketball as well. Locke is a tennis player while Reed is a golfer and softball player.
“We don’t have a lot of girls who play basketball year-round and that hurts us some but if we can get a little more commitment in basketball, we have a chance,” said Myers.
Entering the final two weeks of the season, Hammond had won six of 19 games overall and had failed to win a conference game. Overall, Myers has seen improvement down the stretch and feels a good off-season will lead to more success next year.
“We have them all back and what we need is to work hard during the summer and give ourselves a better chance next year,” said Myers. “I like what I see from this group late in the year. I think if we can have a good spring and summer, we have a chance to be much improved next season.”
And, Myers says the eighth-grade class on the junior varsity has some height, which will help down the road. Chapman Giles is one eighth-grader who has been seeing time on the varsity late in the season.
“I don’t look too far into the future but I think we have some players coming if we can develop them,” said the coach.
