Golden Eagles still off to 8-1 start

Golden Eagles win SCISA Region 2-AAA tournament, finish 15-10

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Sumter — In SCISA AAA girls’ basketball action on Monday in Sumter, Palmetto Christian (16-6) defeated Pee Dee Academy , 52-48 while Orangeburg Prep remained undefeated (26-0) with a 47-28 win over Christian Academy from Myrtle Beach. Palmetto Christian advances to play defending state champion Hilton Head Christian at 3:30 on Thursday (Feb., 22) while Orangeburg Prep will be challenged by John Paul II at 5 p. m. in the same venue. Palmetto Christian had a very competitive game against the Lady Golden Eagles and they actually trailed the game, 34-33, entering the final period. PC talented junior forward Cokey Suddeth took over the final period for her team, when she scored 16 of her game high 33-points including making 10-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter. Suddeth also had 13 rebounds. PC took the lead for good with 5:20 left in the game when Suddeth recovered a turnover and drove to the basket to make it a 39-38 game. She scored the final 8 points of the game for her team, all from the free throw line. Senior guard Lizzie McCaskil l ed Pee Dee with a career high 22 points and her defense helped keep the game close. Rebecca Hammond chipped in 12 points for Pee Dee while Katie Estes and Sydney King contributed six each. PC got additional scoring help from Audrey Bright , Scotty Wrenn , and freshman Adelaide Suddeth . After the game head PC coach Raygon Jordan told the HSSR, “We played this team earlier and won by 25 so I knew they would come into this game seeking revenge,” said Coach Jordan who played college basketball at Erskine College after earning AAA Player of the Year honors at Pinewood Prep her senior year. “We let them hang with us too close today but I am proud of how we got things going in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.” Coach Jordan was very proud of the play of Suddeth. “She’s my girl and she has been averaging a double-double all season (26 pts, 10 reb) and she is such a talented player and could not ask of anymore from her,” said Coach Jordan. “I am assuming Hilton Head Christian won today and we are going to go at them as hard as we can on Thursday.” Pee Dee Academy (15-10) is head coached by Megan Thomas who concluded her third season with the team after this game. “Finishing 15-10 was not what we had in mind when we started the season but all-in-all it was a good season and we are pleased to finish with a winning record. “We won our region tournament and we are really going to miss our only senior starter Lizzie McCaskill, ” said Coach Thomas. “Se has been a great leader on both sides of the ball for a long time.” Orangeburg Prep Dominated Second half In Big Win Over Christian Academy After leading Christian Academy by only 20-17 at the half, the Orangeburg Prep (26-0) Lady Indians stepped up their play on both sides of the ball in the second half and won easily 47-28 by the final buzzer. After the game, 40-plus year O-P coaching veteran Jan Stoudenmire , told the HSSR, “Having been around for 40 years, we have had some good teams but I do not ever remember being 26-0 before,” she said after the game at The Sumter Civic Center. “I recall finishing 27-2 once and would you believe we only returned four players from our very successful team of last season. We have a very deep roster with this year’s team and our feeder program has been helping us a lot also. “In the first half we just couldn’t get the ball to go into the basket,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “We just kept getting after it and we tried to keep the pressure on their point guard. In the second half our shots finally started dropping and I felt like our man-to-man defense got to them also.” One factor that helped O-P was their dominance on the boards, both offense and defense. They got two and three shots at the basket most of the second half. The team’s two returning starters for the 2023-24 season are senior point guard Katherine Lambrecht and inside player Jane Walker Yonce who led her team with 10 points in the game. Lambrecht contributed 9 points and numerous assists from her point guard position. Izzy Exum also had seven points in the win. “We have had balanced scoring all season,” said Coach Stoudenmre. “Katherine Lambrecht makes everything go for us and she is a confident leader on the court and she has been around the program for along time. I am just glad she is in an Indian jersey. “Also, very proud of the play of Yonce and she is a good inside rebounder who can shoot well also,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “We are 10 deep and our entire team has contributed to our success.” Coach Stoudenmire said she does not know a thing about John Paul II who they play on Thursday. “We just hope to play our style of basketball and keep working hard,” said Coach Stoudenmire. “Any team you play this deep in the playoffs is very good.” Other starters for O-P include Annabelle Hunter and Grayson Garrick . The rest of the team consists of senior Peyton Schurlknight and sophomore Preston Schurlknight along with sophomore Kate Holstein , sophomore Hannah Lambrecht , sophomore Jayme Culler and freshman Mary Legare Delaney . Christian Academy was led in scoring by Carly Belle Jackson and Payton Rumley with 8 points each. Head Christian Academy coach Jason Warren told the HSSR after the game, “We have five seniors we are saying good bye too and they were all a vital part of our success,” said Coach Warren. “Two weeks ago, Grace Owens tore her ACL so we lost her for the remainder of the season. Payton Rumley , Mary Claire McDonald , Sydney Wittschen and Carly Belle Jackson will all be missed. “We have been building with this senior group since I became the head coach three years ago,” said Coach Warren. “We were 17-2 two years ago and we were the region co-champs last season before the flu bug wiped us out. This season we set a school record with 23 wins so we have been building the team and look forward to the future.”

Pee Dee will play AA football for next two school years

Golden Eagles reach finals of bracket in SCISA AAA state tournament

Golden Eagles close out season with 3-8 record

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Kingstree --- Williamsburg Academy (4-0) rallied from a 21-14 deficit, entering the fourth period against rival Pee Dee Academy on September, 15, with three touchdowns to pull-out a hard fought 34-28 win to keep the Stallions undefeated on the 2023 season. This game featured the WA, the SCISA AA defending state champions against Pee Dee, the SCISA AAA defending state champions and the game went down to the final minute as expected. After the game WA head football coach Tyler Boyd told the HSSR, “Proud of the way the team kept playing hard throughout the game and we had a lot of big plays on both sides of the football,” said Coach Boyd. “ Micah Baulder has filled in very well for us at quarterback the past two weeks (senior brother Conrad has been out with foot injury) and he had a couple rushing touchdowns and completed several nice passes that kept drives alive tonight. “ Teague (Ward) is a 210 pound back with excellent speed and he is a hard-nosed runner and I was proud of his effort with two rushing touchdowns, and he went over 100 -yards again this game,” said Coach Boyd. “ Camden (Moore) is also a good skill player for us who is very quick. He had one touchdown, and I know it will not show up in the stats, but he took a pass 80 yards for a score but it was called back due to a penalty.” Coach Boyd talked about having to shift the offensive line around due to an injury to a player (center-nose Blake Hedrick ) during the week. “We moved Aiden Stuckey from guard to center and he also had a big interception on defense and freshman Michael Ard stepped in at guard, freshman Marlin Morris (6-1,215) stepped up at tackle, Cam Morris played very well at guard, and left tackle Wyatt Floyd has been getting better and better every week. “We play one game at the time and we try not to look ahead,” said Coach Boyd. “We still have a lot of areas to improve on and getting everyone back from injury is important for us, especially when the region schedule starts.” Pee Dee Academy is head coached by Johnathan King (66-36), in his 10 th season as the head coach, and he told the HSSR after the game, “I was very proud of the way our kids got after it tonight,” said Coach King. “We knew Williamsburg as going to come out and give us everything they had because that is just who they are. They are very well coached also. “The block punt that gave them the short field was the key to the game. In my mind,” said Coach King. “We have used two quarterbacks ( Colby Richardson and Miles Trussell ) and both of them have been hurt this season. Colby throws a good deep ball and Miles might be a little better runner but they are both very good players. Colby had a great game passing the ball and Miles had a great night catching the ball when he played receiver. “We had some opportunities tonight we didn’t take advantage of but all-in-all the kids played hard with great effort,” said Coach King. “We have 9 seniors on this team and I consider them all like captains.” The majority of the Pee Dee senior starters include WR/DL Noah Cox , WR Landon Nobles , WR/DB Hughes Elvington , DL Darren Yang , CB Cutter Miller , LB Slate Lewis and LB Will Bass . Pee Dee Academy led 21-14 going into the final period. A blocked punt by WA senior Cam Morris with 7:07 left in the game help set up the Stallions next score when WA recovered the ball at the 16-yard line. Four plays later Ward scored on a direct snap from three-yards out with 5:31 left. Wes Smith’s PAT tied the scored at 21. Pee Dee Academy responded with a four-play 65-yard scoring drive culminating in a 37-yard touchdown pass from QB Colby Richardson to junior WR Miles Trussell with 3:40 left in the game. Trusell added the PAT. A key play on this drive was a 31-yard pass completion to soph Tristan Heckman that gave the Golden Eagles a first down at the 37. It took the Stallions only two plays to tie the score at 28, after the ensuing kick-off, when Ward burst off right tackle, and then sprinted up the center of the field like he had been shot out of a cannon, on a 61-yard scoring run. Smith’s PAT with 2:56 left tied the score. With 1:32 left in the game Pee Dee went for it on a 4 th and five situations from the WA 33-yard line. Stallion DB JD Sholar tackled Heckman short of the first down as WA took over on downs with 1:28 left in the game. On first down, speedy RB Camden Moore broke several tackles on a hard run down to the five- yard line. Moore scored two plays later on a three-yard run with 48 seconds left in the game. The PAT failed and WA led for good 34-28. Pee Dee got the ball back with 42.1 seconds left after Smith kicked his third kick-off of the game into the end zone. After a second down pass completion of 9 yards to senior Hughes Elvington two incomplete passes concluded the game as time expired. After a score-less first period, Pee Dee scored first at the 9:01 mark of the second period on a two-yard run by Trussell. The drive had started on the WA 31-yard line and was kept alive on Richarson’s two short passes to Trussell, a five- yard keeper by Richardson down to the seven, and then Trussell gained five and two yards on the next two plays. Trussell added the PAT. WA came back and tied the score at 7-7 when soph QB Micah Balder scored on a 35-yard run that capped off a four-play 64-yard drive with Balder scoring with 6:55 left in the first half. A key defensive play in the game was a pass interception of a Pee Dee pass from the WA 13-yard line by Aiden Stuckey that stopped a potential scoring drive by the Golden Eagles with 2:50 left in the half. Then Pee Dee returned the favor of an interception killing a WA scoring drive when Richardson intercepted a pass after the Stallions had advanced 65-yards down to the 15-yard line in the final minute of the first half. For the game, WA netted 226 rushing yards on 28 carries. Ward led the way with 134 yards on 13 carries and rushing TDs of 61 and three yards. Ward caught two passes for 53-yards. Moore netted 47 yards on seven carries with one rushing TD and added two catches for 12 yards. Balder rushed for 48 yards on five carries including two rushing TD’s. Smith added two catches for 32-yards for WA and Sholar had one 29-yard reception. Balder completed 7-0f-18 passes for 126 yards for WA. The WA defense was led by Sholar with 11 tackles, two TFL. Ward was next on the hit index with six tackles and one TFL. Landon Strong added five tackles and Wyatt Floyd had two TFL. Punter Layton Morris averaged 37.6 yards on five punts. Pee Dee Academy had a great game through the air as Richardson completed 16-of-29 passes for 279 yards and one TD. Trussell was 2-of-2 for 67 yards and one TD. Trussell was the Golden Eagles top WR catching six passes for 152 yards and one TD. Heckman caught two passes for 40 yards and Elvington had four receptions for 103 yards. Pee Dee added 86 yards on 21 carries in rushing yards. The top two rushers were Richardson who netted out 41 yards on seven carries and Trussell added 23 yards on four carries. On defense Pee Dee was led by Heckman with 12 tackles and Slate Lewis added seven stops. This week WA is at Northside Christian while Pee Dee hosts Hilton Head Prep . High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.

Larry Gamble HSSR Photo Editor Sumter - The HSSR covered the Pee Dee Academy at Williamsburg Academy game on Friday, Sept 15th in Kingstree. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos. 

King not panicking after loss to Cardinal Newman to open season