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Lady Warriors close out season with solid win

By Gary Dillon
Special Writer
Waccamaw (02/11/10) Lady Warriors rookie head coach Jessica Pressley had to be pleased with her Lady Warriors season-ending win over Kingstree at home on Wednesday night.

Pressley did a masterful job of keeping her girls focused down the stretch, in the 46-37 win, over an up-and-down Lady Jaguars team. Coach Pressley knew her girls desperately needed a win and she road their aggression and hard-play to the much-needed victory.

Kingstree jumped out to a quick 7-0 start but, by the end of the first quarter, the
Lady Warriors had turned things around and taken a 10-8 lead. In the second quarter, the teams traded buckets but, the Lady Warriors went into the locker-room at half, with a 21-18 advantage.

In the third quarter, Kingstree regained the lead 25-23 with 6:24 left in the third quarter. The two teams exchanged the lead for the remaining minutes in the third and Kingstree even went into the fourth quarter with a 32-31 advantage but, in the fourth, the Lady Warriors got the lead back 34-33.

The two teams traded the lead, until the 2:59 mark, when the Waccamaw girls took control of the game and never relinquished the lead for the final three minutes.

Waccamaw junior Amber Williams led all scorers with 15 points. The heart and soul of this year?s Lady Warriors team, her hustle at both ends of the floor was the biggest reason the Lady Warriors closed out the season with the huge win.

Senior center Ashley Czechner played her last game for Waccamaw. She received a full athletic scholarship (softball) to the University of Maryland and will be a Lady Terrapin next fall.

Julia Bradshaw came up big in the season-ending victory with several key buckets and also drew several charging fouls late in the game that helped seal the win. She had a solid game.

Junior Yazzi Bennani ran the Lady Warrior offense and senior Hayes Green rounded out the Waccamaw starting five.

Coming off the bench to spell her starters, coach Pressley rotated center Jessica Maybank, junior forward Kayla Gulley, senior Venetia Grant, Laquana Green, Shelley Strickland, India Jefferson, Rachel McLellan all into the game and all played well.


Results not indicative of Warriors? effort
By C.R. Cumbee
Staff Writer
Pawley?s Island?The Waccamaw High boys? basketball team have found wins hard to come by during the 2009-10 season.  The Warriors are 5-12 (0-5) this year as the second half of region play rolls around.  Second-year head coach Mike Quinn has been proud of his team?s effort even though the results haven?t shown up.
?Day in and day out we battle.  We played a really tough non-conference schedule against AAA teams like St. James, Georgetown and Socastee and we?ve also competed with teams in our region but just haven?t come away with W?s.  The one positive is that every night we come out and compete but just haven?t been able to finish,? Quinn said.
The Warriors have three seniors in the starting lineup in guard Tevin Gardner, forward James Williams and center Alex Jessmore.  Jessmore is averaging over 10 points per game.
?The three of them work hard on a daily basis and try to lead by example with their work ethic.  They?re great kids to work with,? Quinn said.
Also in the starting lineup is junior point guard Samuel Greene and junior forward Joey Alba, both who score more than 10 points a game.
Coming off the bench in reserve roles this season are senior Stuart Hooks, sophomore Dejan Frasier and juniors Bradley Adams, Jerome Maybank, Joey Walton and Josh Rector. 
One of the other positives so far this season has been defense.  The Warriors are limiting opponent?s opportunities and keeping the score close, but the offensive output hasn?t matched the defensive acumen.
?In 15 games we?ve only had three games where opponents scored more than 60 points so we?re playing pretty good defense,? Quinn said.
Waccamaw will play its final four games at home when they take on Hanahan, Andrews, Manning and Kingstree, respectively.  They hope to end the year on a positive note.
?We have to trust in the system that we?re running down the stretch for all 32 minutes.  We?ll hit a lapse late in games and try to get through it, but we just haven?t been able to get over that.  We just have to finish,? Quinn said.
Contact C.R. at crcumbee2007@hotmail.com.

Pressley trying to help Waccamaw rebound in '09-10
By C.R. Cumbee
Staff Writer
Pawley's Island (12/22/09) The Waccamaw High girls' basketball team got a fresh start this season as Jessica Pressley took over as new head coach.  Formerly, Pressley was a volunteer assistant with the middle school program.
So far the Lady Warriors are 1-3 with a victory coming against Lincoln.  The new coach knew this year would be a rebuilding one after the team finished last in the conference a season ago, but has seen positive progress in her first few weeks.
"It's been a little overwhelming.  The girls didn't really know much about offenses and defenses and how to read each one so we basically had to start from scratch.  We've had to take our time, but the girls have been pretty good," Pressley said.
Starting at point guard this year is junior Yazzi Bennani.  She is joined on the perimeter by senior Venetia Grant and junior Amber Williams, who leads the team with 10 points per game.
"Amber has a really nice shot and can shoot threes.  She's real aggressive taking it to the basket.  She draws a lot of fouls so a lot of her points come from the foul line too," Pressley said.
Also in the starting five is junior forward Kayla Gulley and senior center Ashley Czechner.  Coming off the bench has been point guard Laquana Green, center Jessica Maybank, forward Ashley Brown and guards Shelley Strickland and Julia Bradshaw.  India Jefferson, Rachel McLellan and Hayes Green also made the team.
"Everyone works hard and everyone knows what their roles are.  I feel comfortable subbing, even if it is to give certain players a couple minutes of a break," Pressley said.
Waccamaw will play two more games before they break for the holidays, first at Georgetown and then on the road against Socastee.  Once they return to classes, the Lady Warriors will open region play at Kingstree on Jan. 12.
"Obviously there's still a lot for them to learn but in the amount of time they've had to learn it, they've done a good job.  People basically told me that last year they didn't run any offense and just tried to run around and get open.  Now at least they can do that and work together," Pressley said.

 

 

 

l team got a fresh start this season as Jessica Pressley took over as new head coach.  Formerly, Pressley was a volunteer assistant with the middle school program.
So far the Lady Warriors are 1-3 with a victory coming against Lincoln.  The new coach knew this year would be a rebuilding one after the team finished last in the conference a season ago, but has seen positive progress in her first few weeks.
"It's been a little overwhelming.  The girls didn't really know much about offenses and defenses and how to read each one so we basically had to start from scratch.  We've had to take our time, but the girls have been pretty good," Pressley said.
Starting at point guard this year is junior Yazzi Bennani.  She is joined on the perimeter by senior Venetia Grant and junior Amber Williams, who leads the team with 10 points per game.
"Amber has a really nice shot and can shoot threes.  She's real aggressive taking it to the basket.  She draws a lot of fouls so a lot of her points come from the foul line too," Pressley said.
Also in the starting five is junior forward Kayla Gulley and senior center Ashley Czechner.  Coming off the bench has been point guard Laquana Green, center Jessica Maybank, forward Ashley Brown and guards Shelley Strickland and Julia Bradshaw.  India Jefferson, Rachel McLellan and Hayes Green also made the team.
"Everyone works hard and everyone knows what their roles are.  I feel comfortable subbing, even if it is to give certain players a couple minutes of a break," Pressley said.
Waccamaw will play two more games before they break for the holidays, first at Georgetown and then on the road against Socastee.  Once they return to classes, the Lady Warriors will open region play at Kingstree on Jan. 12.
"Obviously there's still a lot for them to learn but in the amount of time they've had to learn it, they've done a good job.  People basically told me that last year they didn't run any offense and just tried to run around and get open.  Now at least they can do that and work together," Pressley said.