By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner - When Oceanside Collegiate used a highly rated junior quarterback. ( Aiden “Laser” Manavian ) to defeat AAAAA power Dutch Fork back in September, the media boys were about ready to phone in to the engraver at the South Carolina High School League to get the Class AAA trophy ready early for the Land Sharks. This reporter was on hand for that mild upset win at Charleston Southern back in September but there is too much football left to be played in Class AAA just to go ahead and give the trophy to the most talented team in AAA in South Carolina. The AAA SCHSL state finals will take place at high noon on Friday December 5 th at South Carolina State University so you AAA fans go ahead and phone in to your boss about having the flu because this is not a Saturday game. Oceanside Collegiate, coached by Brent LaPrad , advanced this week to host Marlboro County by defeating Georgetown 49-15 last week. The Bulldogs, who have an 180- mile ride to Charleston in front of them this week, advanced with a 49-13 win over Swansea. Do not be surprised if the Bulldogs hang around for three quarters against Oceanside but in the final quarter the Sharks should win with their depth numbers. BHP did survive the graduation of all-world running back Maurquise Henderson , and the number one ranked 11-0 Bears advanced with a 56-7 win over Palmetto in round one. Russell Blackstone’s team has been the most offensive productive team at all levels of prep football in SC with a state leading 558 points! (Wow!) Coach Blackston told the HSSR recently, “It sure is good when you can graduate 8,000 yards and 100 touchdowns in Marquise Henderson, that you can still be very good. There are people who thought we were not going to be anything and that’s okay. I knew we had 23 seniors back and six starters back on both sides. We’re where I thought we would be. We had a tremendous Spring and a tremendous summer.” BHP will host Southside Christian this week. The Sabres defeated Chapman 55-18 to advance. Senior BHP QB Noah Thomas is among the best dual threat athletes in the state. By season’s end Thomas should pass for well over 2,200 yards and he will be close to 1,000 yards rushing. His favorite target is junior stud Tajeh Watson Martin . Third ranked Loris (11-0) beat Dillon for the second year in a row and that got the folks around town pretty whipped up for sure. The Lions whipped Battery Creek 49-14 last week to advance. They will host upstart Orangeburg-Wilkinson this week after the 9-1 Bruins beat Keenan 25-12 last week. This game should be a one possession lead for either team well into the fourth quarter. Dillon has won a state title before with three losses, and the Wildcats have a rising star in 9 th grade QB Khayel Fong Talia (6-2, 200) who recently visited Clemson for the Florida State game. This Under Armour Next Level All-American has helped make talented North Carolina WR commitment and Shrine Bowler Zay Robertson the top WR in South Carolina. Robertson has drawn comparisons to former New England NFL receiver Troy Brown who played high school football at Blackville-Hilda . Dillon is also led by Shrine Bowl LB Daniel Capehart and North-South LB Keryien Brown . Dillon advanced in round one with a 49-8 win over Fox Creek and the Wildcats will host Silver Bluff this week, a 34-13 winner over North Charleston . It seems strange that Newberry (11-0) is competing in the playoffs as a lower state team this season but that is the case. Newberry is led by SC tight end commitment Jamel Howze (6-3,215) and they have dominated teams 470-142 this season. Newberry advanced with a 54-14 win over Aynor last week and they will host Hanahan this week. The Hawks advanced with a 38-21 win over Waccamaw last week. In the upper state , Powdersville advanced with a 66-0 win over Carolina , and they will host Pendleton this week. Pendleton advanced with a 24-21 win over Broome last week. Mountain View Prep (MVP) can be a sleeper but an early season loss to Woodruff exposed some of their weaknesses. MVP had a close 28-21 win over St. Joseph’s in round one to advance and they host Crescent this week. The Tigers advanced with a 52-14 win over Union County . Christ Church won Class A titles under head coach Quin Hatfield (a Manning native) in recent years but moved up to AAA with realignment two years ago. The Cav’s advanced with a 42-7 win over Walhalla last week and they will be at Woodruff this week. The 10-1 Wolverines are ranked 5 th by the HSSR this week and they advanced with a 49-7 win over West-Oak . Woodruff is led by a talented 1-2 punch junior pair on offense. QB Connor Davis (6-2, 210) has completed 147-of-242 passes for 1,904 yards and 23 TD’s coming into the game with Christ Church. Junior RB Amari Gibson has gained 1,284 yards on 159 carries and 19 TD’s. This makes Woodruff a very balanced team on offense between passing and running. While Class AAA might look like a BHP vs OC rematch anything can happen, and most teams are just one unfortunate injury away from a course correction so staying healthy is so important.

Christ Church head coach Quin Hatfield.

Dillon's Zay Robertson.

Athletic Director Molly Miller has outstanding coaches who believe in the core values of Christ Church and the vision statement for CCE.

Cav’s head coach Quinn Hatfield.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Greenville – Some may have expected a drop off for the states premier boys tennis program in 2025 , but the Christ Church Boys and new coach Reverend Wallace Adams-Riley showed that the more things change the more they stay the same as they made it to the AAA upper state championship match in their first year in the new classification. When asked what challenges the first-year coach faced he told the HSSR, “the biggest challenge was the rain.” “I had such ready, steady support from our Athletic Director, Molly Miller, and her Athletic Department team; from Jimmy Burford , my predecessor as coach; from my assistant coach, Rae Sobocinski, who is an experienced tennis coach and player (and the coach of our girls’ varsity tennis); and from the parents of our players, that I’m happy to say things went quite smoothly,” said coach. Coach continued, “Our boys played hard all season, right on up through our match against Clinton in the Upper State Championship game. We had several additions to the varsity team giving us 17 players throughout the season. The teams three captains were seniors Tucker Hendrix, Carson Bowers, and Hutch Lyman. They brought leadership and commitment to the team and they helped show the younger players on the team, the culture of Christ Church boys tennis. Bowers and Lyman were returning top seven players from 2024. This season Bowers played at number two seed while Lyman was the most improved player this year, playing at various times the number five singles and the number two doubles with Bowers. Hendrix returned to the court after a years absence and played at the number three seed. He will head to Clemson next season to play football as a preferred walk on. Krish Patel was a returning seeded player from 2024 and was slotted at the number four seed for the Cav’s this season. Joining Hendrix as newcomers to this years team was the Cav’s top seeded player in Judd Windham. The sophomore also started at forward on the Cav’s boys soccer team that also made the upper state finals. Paul Fraunberger and Omar Rida moved up from the JV team. Fraunberger played at the number five singles while Rida played at number seven. Ellis Trail and Powers McKissick will be back next season. They provided depth this past but will be looking to nab one of the seeds on next year’s team. “The one thing I have loved is the team’s spirit. There’s an enthusiasm that is contagious and I have appreciated their commitment, all of which has continued to develop over the course of the season. One particularly encouraging aspect of the team’s culture is the way they have welcomed in and encouraged the younger players,” said coach. “We had 17 players with us through the season, with another couple of players coming up from our JV team to join us for practices, so I am excited about the future of our team. Next year we aim to make it to the State Championship.” .

 By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Greenville – When you have won the third most boys’ soccer state championship in state history (14) at both the class A and class AA levels expectations are always high because the success has always been there but when you move up another level to AAA expectations may be tapered a bit. However, at Christ Church Episcopal the goals and expectations remain the same. “My expectations have not changed with the move up to AAA,” said CCE Head Coach Russell Shelley . “My first priority is to establish a positive culture, foster positive relations, and to focus on the player and his development. If we are successful in those pursuits the wins will take care of themselves.” Coach continued, “The transition to 3A has been pretty seamless, and I am happy with where we are as a team. I intentionally put together a difficult schedule. We scheduled several 5A schools, and I have been happy with our play against these schools.” The Cavaliers currently sit at 7-7 overall and 5-2 in region 2 AAA after dropping a tough one to region leading Powdersville (15-1/7-0). As coach pointed out, that schedule was difficult as every team they have lost to has a winning record and is competing for a region championship. “We are certainly competitive and want to win but testing ourselves against the best teams we can play is of the utmost importance,” coach Shelley. “We are playing a more attacking brand of soccer and as a result are creating better chances.” What also has been a plus for the Cavaliers is the return of their three senior captains Payne Hornish, Elliott Jeray , and Rodrigo Marques. They have played in back-to-back state championship games so their experience in big games has certainly helped their younger teammates. All three are playing at a high level on the pitch. Hornish and Marques are also returning All State selections at defense and midfield, respectively. While Jeray plays on the defensive side of field alongside Hornish. Mateo Gartner Lavina is a junior forward playing well and is one of the top offensive threats on the pitch for the Cavs. He has an outstanding sophomore season. Junior keeper William Ossman has been solid in net all season. He and the defense have not allowed more than three goals in any game this season despite playing some very good offensive teams. He has five shutouts on the season Sophomores Hudson Temple, Alex Aquino , and Sheamus Schellinger have also established themselves as solid starters. Temple and Schellinger are at midfield while Aquino plays forward. Temple also sees time on the defensive side of the pitch. Freshmen midfielder Sam Sutton is midfield has established himself as our starting 10. Rounding out the Cav’s roster are seniors Alex Montgomery, Garrett Long and William Mims, juniors Bernardo Pompeu, Alexander Schmoll-Nassar, Ludwig Marschner, Ian Tucker, and Julian Monsell and sophomores Judd Windham, and Holden Hughes and freshmen Phen Wunder and Griffin Boyd. The Cav’s have four games remaining in the season with three of them being region contests. Two of the three region games will be against rival St. Joseph’s Catholic School. The teams split their regular season matches last season but St. Joseph’s won the rubber match in the state finals. They will travel Palmetto (region contest) and AAAAA River Bluff. The Cavs can capture the second seed from region 2AAA if they can win their remaining region games. They will be a team to watch come playoff time as they know what it takes to make a deep run.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Greenville – Spring sports time in South Carolina is always a special time of year as it starts out when the weather is still cold and unpredictable but as it warms up flowers bloom, the air is crisp and at Christ Church Episcopal they are looking for another state championship in one or more of their spring sports. The Spring Sports at CCE consist of Boy’s Golf, Boy’s Tennis, Boys and Girls Soccer, Boys and Girls Lacrosse and Boys and Girls Track and field and the Cavalier’s have won an incredible 65 state championships in six of those sports and have finished runner ups another 50 times in all eight of those sports. Boys Golf and Tennis have won the most state titles in state history with 20 and 25 respectively while the boys soccer team won a national record 11 consecutive state championships. This spring several of the Cavs sports are having outstanding seasons and looking to make deep runs in the playoffs with an eye on another state championship for the Cavs trophy case. Girls soccer is off to a great start at 10-2-1/7-0 and will looking to play in their fourth straight championship game. They are led by seniors Amelia Spinks and Laura Morgan and juniors Catherine Morgan and Sophia Tzouvelekas and sophomore Sophia Mahfood. The girls Lacrosse team is off to a 10-5/5-1 record and is looking to make another deep run in the playoffs. They are led by senior captains Foster Miller, Kathryn Toomey and junior captain Sydney Shaw. The baseball is currently in fourth place in region 4 AAA play with three more region contests and two out regions games before the playoffs begin. They have played a tough schedule to get them ready for the playoffs. Last year the got hot in the playoffs and made the upper state finals. They are led Carter Phillips , Bo Lowrance, Blake Foral, Brady Cisson and Chris Killian. Phillips is the team’s top hitter with a .484 average while Lowrance is also hitting right at .400. The boys tennis team is breaking in a new coach as well as new several new starters. Krish Patel, Ellis Trail and the doubles team of Carson Bowers and Hutch Lyman all return. Patel was the number three seed last season. The boy’s lacrosse team sits at 7-7 currently with two teams games left before the playoffs. They made the second-round last season. Seniors Will Marquet, Aiden Feltman, Ryan Doherty, JT Harrell lead a young team.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR  Greenville – The Christ Church Episcopal Lady Cavalier’s lacrosse team has had their season end in the state AAAA semi finals the last two years and they lost 60% of their offensive production so expectations might be tempered heading into the 2025 season, however, head coach Molly Miller has built a program that reloads with the same expectations every year. The Lady Cav’s finished with 12-6/ 4-1 record last season. “While competing for a state championship is always a priority, we try not to look too far down the road so we focus on each game in front of us and what we need to do to get better,” said coach Miller. “Our expectations are always to be better as team each time we step off the field and if we do that everything else will take care of itself.” Coach continued, “We have 17 girls who are great teammates, competitive, hardworking, willing to learn, and committed to improving. You can't ask for much more as a coach. I am excited to see how they come together as team and how far we can go.” The Lady Cav’s have gotten off to a good start to the season at 4-0/1-0 having beaten three AAAAA schools in the process. They are scoring 13 goals a game but the key to the start has been their defense. They have held the opponent to 9 goals or less three times. They host 5-2 AAAAA Spartanburg before they play three consecutive region contest with two being on the road at Oceanside Collegiate and Academic Magnet before they host AAAAA TL Hanna. Seniors Foster Miller and Kathryn Toomey are the team leaders and two of the teams three captains. Miller is a returning second team All State attacker, first team all upper state and All region. She is the teams leading returning offensive threat. Last season she was second goals with 46, second in assists with 22 and second in total points with 68. She is a gifted offensive player when looking to score or trying to find a teammate. Toomey is the teams stopper on defense. She is a returning second team all upper state and an all-region selection. She was second last season in ground balls. Junior Sydney Shaw is returning all-region attacker while fellow junior Amelia Koch was all region on defense. Shaw is the team’s third captain and last season she scored a total of 13 points. She also plays on the basketball team. The rest of the starting line up is made up of underclassmen. Two juniors Lexie Sobocinski and Catherine Easterling are new to the team but have fit in really well with their teammates. Easterling is a starter while Sobocinski adds depth off the bench and is sometime starter. Sophomore starters are Kate Marguet at attacker , Julia Davis at defense , Pearson Glenn at midfield , Mae Hatfield at attacker , JJ Nessmith at midfield , and Maggie Chernez at goal keeper. Hatfield and Nessmith each scored 10 goals last season and finished the year with 12 points each. Each was on the team last year but they’ve adjusted their positions and/or roles for the 2025 season. Chernez is one of the top keepers in the state. As a freshman she had 65 saves and allowed only 8 goals a game. She has been better this season allowing less than 7 goals per contest. Also new to the team and the starting lineup are freshmen Ella Brashier and Adelaide de Brux they have shown a lot of positives in our first few games. They add depth and athleticism to the team. The rest of the Lady Cav’s lineup are sophomores Saddler Fox and Sullivan Cunningham and freshman Alexis Stathakis. Fox is a three sports athlete, also playing basketball and soccer. This past season she averaged six points and four rebounds on the hardwood while Cunningham and Stathakis are two sport athletes. “Experience is something we will gain as the season goes along. We need to continue to build confidence in our young players and that is where senior leadership comes into play,” said coach Miller.