Winter sports winding down at North Myrtle Beach
By David Shelton
Senior Writer
Little River – Spring is approaching and the winter sports season at North Myrtle Beach High is winding down as the calendar turns to February.
It appears that the girls basketball team, coached by Jude Hunt, will be a part of the upcoming of the lower state playoffs while the boys team will miss out on the postseason unless they can turn things around with a strong finish.
Frank Morehead is in his first season as the boys coach, having coached the girls team for several years before moving into the college ranks as an assistant at Coastal Carolina.
Morehead has a young team this season with only two seniors – Davis Trussell and Roderick Hemingway. The roster includes five juniors and five sophomores.
North Myrtle Beach entered the final four games of the regular season with a 9-8 record overall but only a 1-5 record in region 8-AAA play. The Chiefs finish the season with games against Wilson, Georgetown, Socastee and Myrtle Beach and would likely need at least three wins down the stretch to gain a playoff berth.
Hunt’s girls team is in a little better position but cannot win the region title. With four games left, the Lady Chiefs were 13-7 overall and 3-3 in region play. Barring a collapse down the stretch, North Myrtle Beach will likely finish third in the region standings, behind St. James and Myrtle Beach.
Junior guard Taylor Allman continues to have a solid season, averaging 17.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Junior forward India Farmer is averaging 10.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game while junior forward Jaquella Livingston is averaging 8.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest.
The wrestling team has wrapped up region competition and is preparing for the state duals and state individual tournament action coming next week.
One of the top performers with a chance to go far in the state tournament is 182-pounder Hampton Harmon, who is ranked sixth in the state by scmat.com in his weight class.
Jonathan Bracey is ranked seventh in the state as a 285-pounder.
Carson McDaniel has been competing for the Chiefs in the 106-pound weight class. Shane Barnhart and Joey Small are two competitors in the 113-pound division.
Working at 120 is Steven Small while William Lewis is the starter at 126.
Ronnie Johnson competes in the 132-pound weight class and Brandon Moore is working in the 138-pound class. Brian Beck-Meier is wrestling in the 145-pound class and Jared Woody competes at 152.
Eric Baker is the starting 160-pounder and Mikhail Vlahas is the starting 170-pounder.
Rounding out the lineup is Gerodie Graham (195) and Gabe Pruitt (220).
