Colleton County Boys Look to Make Noise in Region 6-4A

By WORTHY EVANS

Contributing Writer



Walterboro – This year’s Colleton County boys basketball team is young, but has a good shot at a successful season with the play of its two seniors and some juniors.

The Cougars finished 17-11 overall and 7-3 in Region 7-4A last year, but lost nine seniors from that team. Now in Region 6-4A, Colleton County is 5-6, and after weathering a tough early start in non-region play, the Cougars won three straight games going into their non-region game at Stratford Friday.

“We’re pretty much a whole new group,” Cougars head coach Dominic Kahee said. “We have four returning seniors this year, and pretty much a whole new group. They’ve struggled to find their identity early in the season, but I think they’ve caught on.”

The Cougars lost two of their first three games, but battled Stratford in a 61-58, two-overtime victory Dec. 3. After that gut check, Colleton County dropped losses to Hampton County, Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester and Battery Creek.

Colleton County generally plays an up-tempo game that gets its points in transition, from steals to other turnovers. When they play their game, the Cougars can turn the tables fast on an opponent, but there have been moments where they play too fast, and “We like to let our defense create our offense, but we do get a little ahead of ourselves and I have to take it down a notch, slow it down and get them back into their headspace.”

A 59-51 win over Bamberg-Ehrhardt Dec. 18 marked the team’s turnaround. Two days later the Cougars played Hampton County—which beat them 65-44 Dec. 6—and won a defensive battle 49-41.

Their most recent win came as a 45-38 victory over Ridgeland Dec. 23.

Senior guard Da’Veon Varner leads the team in scoring with 18.4 points per game. He also averages 3.7 rebound and 2.7 assists per game.

Senior forward Amauri Sanders averages 14.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and senior guard Robert Parks averages 5.9 points and 2.2 boards per game.

Junior center Xavion Green is the team’s leading defender with 6.0 rebounds per game. Junior forward Jaqueas Martin averages 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

“Sanders and Varner are getting a lot more help from our big guys, Xavion Green and Jaqueas Martin,” Kahee said. “It’s been a gradual process, but they have stepped up a lot.”

After Friday’s game at Stratford, Colleton County opened Region 6-4A play at May River Tuesday. The Sharks were 8-2 going into their Saturday game against Benedictine and look to be one of the better teams in the region after 10-1 Bluffton, Kahee said.

“We were preseason ranked No.5 in the region, and Bluffton is the team to beat,” Kahee said. “They’ve got a pretty good core of players down there, and for right now they’re at the top of the mountain. Behind them is May River, and with the addition of Bishop England (up from 2A) and Beaufort (up from 3A), they’re going to make a little noise along with us.”