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Laurens Academy Hoping Strong Finish Propels Them To Playoffs 

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher

Laurens—Nobody has to tell Laurens Academy head boys’ basketball coach Travis Plowden his Raiders need to turn it up a notch with games left against foes Newberry and Wardlaw.

The Raiders are 8-9 and 5-2 and in third place behind Newberry and Anderson with the regular season winding down.

“Newberry and Anderson are both ahead us right now,” said Coach Plowden. “We split games with Anderson, lost to Newberry by four the first time we played them. We play Newberry again this Friday and Wardlaw next Tuesday night.  The outcome of those games will determine our fate.”

Coach Plowden, in his first year, said the Raiders found themselves in a little bit of a slump to start January. “The last week we have picked things up with wins over Long Cane and King last week,” said Coach Plowden. “I think the kids are starting to defend a lot better and they are starting to understand what we need to do on a nightly basis for us to play well.”

One player on the team that has a lot of blue sky in front of him is 6-1, 180 pound freshman guard Chase Brewington who is averaging 20 points per game.  “Chase has developed a really good shot,” said Coach Plowden. “He can shoot off the dribble, score in transition, and I have coached him in middle school the past two years and you always knew he would be a player who can go out there and get you 20 plus points a game.

“He has a really good mindset for his age. When we played Newberry they knew how good he could play and tried to stop him but he still scored 31 points. He has an ability to score well even when he is the focal point of the defense.”

       A junior point guard is Billy Rockefeller who is averaging 14 points, 8 rebounds and three assists per game. “We were down to Anderson Christian by two with 1.9 seconds to go and Rockefeller hit a shot from three fourths down the court to win at the buzzer, 48-47,” said Coach Plowden. “If he doesn’t make that shot our playoff possibilities would have been hurt greatly.”

Other starters include sophomore guard Matthew Urwick averaging 11 points and senior forward Isaac Brown is getting four points and eight rebounds a contest. Sophomore forward Samuel Moore and freshman guard Robert Williams are each averaging about three points per game.

The team was dealt a setback the first of the year when junior Jonathan Maddox, the team’s best defensive player, tore his ACL. Williams and Moore have shared time replacing him. Zhe Liu is an exchange student from China who has played sparingly.

The team is averaging 60 points a game. “We like to control the pace but we can also be very deliberate. It just depends who we are playing. We try and impose our will on teams offensively and control a pace that gives us the advantage. We held Newberry under 40 points last time we played them.”   

The region tournament starts Feb., 9 at Newberry College.    

 

le="font-size: 13px;">By Scott J. Bryan
Special Writer
Laurens (10/29/09)  Laurens Academy coach Todd Kirk's football team has been on a roller coaster ride of sorts through much of the season.
The Crusaders mentor hopes this latest dip is the last he'll see in a while.
Laurens Academy is currently 4-5 on the year, but the Crusaders have lost back-to-back games and four of their last five contests entering Friday's regular season finale at home against W.W. King.
Fresh off a thorough dismantling at Dillon Christian, 42-0, Kirk is less than pleased with his team's overall play.
"Overall, I don't feel like we've played hard all season," Kirk said. "We seem to have not found our grip offensively. We haven't found our stride offensively.
"I think defensively we've played hard. We've got some younger kids who are playing awfully hard and doing good things. We gave up 42 points Friday night, but previous to that, we've played pretty good defense. We've kept teams under 20 most of the time. I've been pleased with that."
Despite the losing skid, Kirk has constantly praised his younger charges for their initiative and effort.
"I think they see an opportunity to play, in general," Kirk said. "Our young guys have come in and played like that. They've played with excitement. They've made some plays at times. Typically, the kids who have not played are excited to play. They've pretty aggressive. We have not been as aggressive, in general, as we should have been."
Kirk credited nose guard Devin Sprouse and defensive end J.T. Lee as two defenders who have performed well.
Offensively, Kirk said Alex Satterfield has continued to play well when the offensive line presents him the opportunity to do so. But the Crusaders' lack of play-makers has been a bugaboo all season.
"Alex has been our big-play guy," Kirk said. "When we give him time, he does well. We haven't given him many opportunities though.
"Brandon Martin is our best wide receivers and defenses have been taking him away. They bring six and take away Brandon, and we're stuck trying to find more answers. That's been the story the last three or four ballgames. Once you get the film on us, they have a pretty good idea what we're going to do."
Up next for Laurens is King, a 6-3 program with plenty of talent.
"King is a good, sound football team," Kirk said. "They run the option, and when they stop running the option, they spread it out and throw it well. Their probably our biggest rivalry since they're down in Batesburg. It's about an hour and 15 minutes away. They're very well coached."