Central Boys Basketball Rounding Into Gear



By Dennis Brunson

hssr.com Associate Editor

Pageland – The Central High School boys basketball team got off to a slow start. The Eagles lost their first three games, albeit by a combined 17 points.

However, there’s a little bit more to the story than that.

Central played its first game on Tuesday, December 1. That came just three days after the school’s football team, which included many members of the basketball team, saw its season come to an end playing in the AA playoffs lower state championship game.

The Eagles had the next two games on December 2 and December 4, meaning they got in one practice together before playing the first two contests.

“We got them late, so we were working on getting our chemistry, being able to play together,” said Central head coach Desmond Sowell.

It appears the Eagles have made good progress on that front. They have gone 11-2 since with the two losses coming to AAAAA Nation Ford by a 56-49 count and 79-76 to AAAA Hartsville. More importantly, they are off to a 3-0 start in Region 4.

All things considered, Sowell likes where his team stands at the moment.

“We’re playing up to my expectations,” he said. “My thing is for us to compete day in and day out. It’s just about us being able to maintain that as we go to region play and try to make a playoff run.”

Central has four starters back from a team that went 18-11 and reached the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. They are seniors Tazhir Webber, Demetrius Myers and Aiden Short and junior Jordan Crowder.

Webber leads the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game, assists at 3.9 and steals at 3.3. He is also grabbing 4.6 rebounds.

Crowder is one of three other Eagles scoring in double figures with an 11.9 average while leading in rebounding at 6.4 Myers is just missing out on double figures at 9.7. Short is averaging 3.5 points.

The other two scoring in double figures are senior newcomers Jakori Holloman and Scoot Colyer. Holloman, who transferred from McBee, is the second leading scorer at 12.6 while averaging 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.1 steals. Colyer, who came from Florida, is averaging 11.3 points, 3.6 assists and 2.9 steals.

Giving Central impactful minutes off the bench are junior Dwayne Louallen Jr., junior Aiden Welch, senior Taveon Moore and senior Jordan Caldwell, an offensive lineman on the football team who is 6-feet-4-inches tall and weighs 240 pounds.

“We didn’t have any real size last year,” Sowell said. “Jordan gives us size and toughness.”

While the Eagles can produce points, Sowell likes the way they play defense.

“They’re really athletic and like to defend,” he said. “That helped us to a win against (AAAA) Darlington. We’ve shown the ability to compete and play at a high level. There should never be a game that we don’t compete in.”

CENTRAL GIRLS START 1-12

In its first season under head coach JT McManus, the Central girls basketball team won only one of first 13 games. However, the one win did come in region play, a 35-34 triumph over North Central, giving the Eagles a 1-2 region record.

“We played a tough non-region schedule because we wanted to see where we’re at,” said McManus, who was the junior varsity boys head coach and Sowell’s assistant for five years. “We’re at Square 1, the bare minimum. We’re working on developmental stuff that should have already been done. We’re trying to teach and play games at the same time.”

           The starters are seniors Jariyah Sowell, Rielyn Chambers and Tashia Quick, junior D’lorya Smith and 6-1 eighth-grader Brooklyn Seegars.

           Sowell, the daughter of the boys head coach, is the leading scorer at 7.9. Quick is averaging 4.7, Seegars 3.3, Chambers 3.2 and Smith 1.6.

“We’re working on changing the culture,” McManus said. “The girls are playing hard, but our shot-making ability and ball handling ability aren’t there yet.

Making the playoffs, that’s our goal, our aspiration.”