Denmark-Olar Cagers capture first state championship in coach Davis final game
Dennmark-Olar senior Christian-Nimmons in the state title game against Abbeville.
By Neill Kirkpatrick
Special to the HSSR
Denmark – It had been 35 years since the Denmark-Olar Vikings boys basketball team had played in the class A state championship game so when head coach Hercules Davis and his senior laden squad defeated Bethune-Bowman 63-49 to advance to their second state championship game they were determined to have a different outcome this time.
The Vikings has had some special motivation heading into the game as they found out a couple of weeks prior the coach Davis was stepping down. Not to mention that the 9 seniors wanted to leave a lasting legacy for future Viking teams.
They accomplished both goals as they beat the Abbeville Panthers 58-52 to win their first state basketball championship.
“I’m so proud of these guys. They put it all together tonight and we came out with a victory,” coach Davis told the HSSR after the game.
“When we found out it was Coach Davis’s last year, we made a promise we were going to give him a ring,” said senior forward Joshua Goodman.
Goodman seemed to be the missing piece from a Viking team that had made deep runs in the playoffs the past few years only to come up short of the championship game. He transferred from Hampton County where he was a solid contributor to a team that played in the AA lower state championship game in 2024. The 6-5 forward averaged a double/double this season with 18.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game which earned him class A All State status. He also became a 1000-point career scoring with Vikings as he had 615 points at Hampton County before coming to the Vikings.
Guard Terrence Hinton was also named to the class A All State team for the second year in row. The senior captain led the team in steals at 3.6 a night and in dimes at five a game. He was second in scoring at 13 points per game and finished his career with 890 points and over 300 assists.
Seniors center Tykeem Ross and forward Robert Bovian were the teams other two captains and integral parts of the team for the past three seasons. Ross, a two-time all-state football selection, came into the year with a chance to eclipse the 1000 career point barrier but he came up a little short finishing his career with 937 point to go with 800 rebounds. He averaged 10. points per game and cleaned the glass with 8.7 boards per game.
Bovian is on the of the top athletes at the school and like he did for the football team, he did whatever was asked of him. He was second on the team in rebounding at 9.4 a game and he chipped in with 7.7 points a night.
Senior guard Christian Nimmons shot 55% from behind the arc and scored 7.3 points per contest.
The rest of this legacy class of seniors are Carlos Johnson, Reginald Youmans, Se'Quavin Pough and Jordan Howell. Johnson was the first person off the pine and gave the Vikings solid minutes all year.
