The HSSR named Sharks junior quarterback Aiden Manavian (5-11, 185) our Mr. Football. This is the first time a junior earned the honor in our 40-year history.

Some of action in the SCISA Basketball tournament so far!

Team photo courtesy of Northwood Academy.

Dutch Fork defensive end Julian Walker recorded 50 tackles, 19 TFLs, 11 sacks in the 2024 season.

Hammond Coach Jon Wheeler, going into his fifth year as head coach of the Skyhawks, celebrating the team's SCISA 4A state championship last fall with family.

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia – The Hammond girls soccer team (11-7-1) fell short in a controversial 6-0 loss to Porter Gaud in the SCISA 4A championship match May 10. The Cyclones were up 1-0 in a competitive game going into the 47 th minute when senior goalkeeper Maxine Palisin received a red card for an illegal touch, which put her on the bench for the rest of the game. Two substitute goalkeepers, Arrington Earle and Olivia Leavitt , took over, but Porter Gaud scored three goals between the 49 th and 54 th minutes to take a 4-0 lead. The Cyclones scored two more goals before the final whistle. The call irritated first-year head coach and former University of South Carolina football standout Ryan Brewer . “It was crap. It really is,” he said. “You’ve got a senior keeper who comes out and it hits her chest, it could have been a handball, yes, maybe. Whatever. You could have gave her a yellow. The ref wants to make the game about him, and so these young ladies who’ve been fighting their ass off out here, that’s his prerogative, he can do whatever he wants on that, but my girls fought their tails off until that happened.” Despite the season-ending game, the Skyhawks spring was as memorable as it was successful. When head coach Rafael Marquez stepped down in January for personal reasons, Athletic Director Jeff Barnes heard from his old college roommate, Brewer . Better known by USC faithful as a tough, gritty athlete who lined up as a running back and receiver in Lou Holtz’s teams in the early 2000s, Brewer had a personal interest in Hammond girls soccer. Not only were his two daughters, senior Elle Brewer and sophomore Brooks Brewer , on the team, he had also known their teammates since they were kicking soccer balls at an elementary school level. The hire worked out. Brewer’s Skyhawks won Region 1-4A with a 7-0 record. Hammond then beat Hilton Head Christian 6-1 May 6 and Pinewood Prep 1-0 May 8 to reach the championship game May 10 at Cardinal Newman’s St. Sebastian Stadium. The ending is not what Brewer or his team wanted, but Brewer said it doesn’t tarnish his team’s work ethic throughout the season. “It’s a bitter feeling of getting this far, definitely,” Brewer said. “How hard they worked, especially the seniors, from my daughter (Elle), Logan ( Rivers ), Max ( Palisine ), girls I’ve known since they were babies pretty much, and Kate ( Weston ), and Grier ( Eaddy ) and Arrington ( Earle ), the battle they’ve done out there.” He added, “I’ve got three, four real soccer players, everyone else is just a bunch of athletes who’ve battled their tails off. I just wish we could go out with all 11 players and a keeper and see what really happens out there.” The Hammond boys soccer team beat Northwood in the first round of the 4A playoffs May 5, but ended the season falling at Porter Gaud 4-3 May 7. The Hammond softball team (11-10) went 2-2 in the SCISA 4A softball tournament in Sumter May 9-10. The Skyhawks beat Cardinal Newman 15-0 and fell 17-2 to eventual 4A state champion Laurence Manning Academy on May 9. The next day Hammond edged John Paul II 6-5, but saw its season come to an end with an 11-1 loss to Wilson Hall . The Hammond baseball team (13-11) fell 7-0 to Ben Lippen May 1 in the opening round of the 4A playoffs, and ended the season with a 15-2 loss Pinewood Prep May 5.

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writing Columbia - The Hammond baseball team had gotten off to a great start in SCISA Region 1-4A, but a 4-0 loss April 9 at Cardinal Newman snapped the Skyhawks 6-game region winning streak. The Cardinals got all four runs in the third inning, using two hits, a Hammond error, and two hit batters. “We had one bad inning where we made an error and hit some guys, and they put together four runs,” head coach Chris Braciszewski said. “We didn’t swing it well either. It was a great game otherwise, we played great defense, but it was just one bad inning.” That game was showed that the Skyhawks, 11-5 overall, need to improve at the plate if they want to make a strong finish in the region and go deep in the playoffs.  “The region is really tight between us, Cardinal Newman, and Ben Lippen ,” Braciszewski said. “We’ve been doing really well, but we haven’t been swinging the bat too well. We’ve been hitting the ball well early in the season, but after we played Augusta Christian we haven’t. That’s baseball, and we went from hitting everything to not hitting anything.” Braciszewski said he hopes the team can get its swing back in the A.C . Flora – hosted Forest Acres Classic that plays out over Spring Break. Hammond, A.C. Flora, Airport , River Bluff , Lexington , Cardinal Newman, Miller School of Albemarle (Charlottesville, Va.) and Lugoff - Elgin will play four games apiece. “That tournament is great,” Braciszewski said. “It comes at the right time of the year to get us ready for the playoffs. We see some quality pitching and it’ll give us a chance to really get back into the swing of things.” Sophomore centerfielder Colt Babic has led the way for the Skyhawks, hitting .511 with 23 hits and 5 home runs. Senior third baseman and Carnegie - Mellon football signee Jack Croft is batting .373 with three triples and two homers and senior shortstop Ben Kirkpatrick with a homer and 14 RBI. Sophomores Sam Painter , Worth Lundy , Babic and junior Jackson Bozard have been doing good work on the mound for the Skyhhawks. “Sam Painter has done really well, he’s had some good outings for us,” Braciszewski said. “Worth Lundy has thrown very well and he’s gotten his velocity up and making good pitches, throwing all of his pitches for strikes. Colt Babic has just been cleared to pitch and closed a game recently, we’re getting him worked back onto the mound a little. Jackson Bozard has done well, he started last night, struggled a little bit but he’s been solid all year.” Hammond softball (5-4, 4-1) lost its first region game to Cardinal Newman April 10 and plays First Baptist , Orangeburg Prep, Laurance Manning Academy , and Providence Athletic Club over Spring Break. The Skyhawks take on Ben Lippen April 22 and April 24. Senior leftfielder Ava Miller leads the team with a .476 batting average, three doubles and 12 RBI. Senior centerfielder Ali Dorrington has a .407 average with two doubles and four RBI. Senior Barrett Brazell is batting .320 with a triple.

Blythewood junior Kaila Spain in tournament's title game.

Hammond Boys in good position despite loss to AC By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia - Hammond’s boys basketball team was on the losing end of a 73-70 overtime battle between the Skyhawks and No. 1 Augusta Christian Jan. 31, but ninth-year head coach David Ross wasn’t disappointed with the loss. “I told the team tonight that I don’t care about records. I never have,” Ross explained. “I don’t care if we win by 30, I don’t care if we lose by 30. What I’m more interested in is did we get better tonight. And I think we accomplished that.” With the loss of USC football signee and forward Michael Tyler due to a broken foot, and the absence of sophomore starter Jackson Ross who had the flu, Hammond had every reason to believe the challenge of facing the tall and strong Augusta Christian squad might be overwhelming. Bryce Reynierson , a 6-feet, 5-inch forward who averages 20.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and sophomore Ty Shine (17.6 points and 4.3 assists per game, lead the way for Augusta Christian. “We knew we were outmatched from a size perspective,” Ross said. “I challenged our guys to go out and compete against guys we knew were going to be bigger and stronger, and they responded for sure. We lost the game, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort.  The Skyhawks (16-4, 7-1 SCISA Region 1-4A) met the Lions (23-2, 8-0) head on. Hammond used its speed and ball-handling to get around the height advantage. Offensive rebounding kept the Skyhawks in scoring position, and senior guard Jaiden Haltiwanger led the way with mid-range jumpers and layups. Behind the athleticism of Haltiwanger, Mekhi Smith - Brown’s field goals included three 3-pointers, and junior Daylin Haltiwanger had some clutch shots as well. Hammond led 19-16 after the first quarter and 35-28 at the half. Augusta stayed within reach, trailing 48-43 going into the fourth quarter, when the teams battled to a 62-62 tie at the end of regulation. The Lions finally got some distance on the Skyhawks, winning the overtime period 11-8 and clinching the win. Jaden Haltiwanger had 39 points to lead all scorers. Brown had 21 points. Shine was the top scorer for the Lions with 34 points. Reynierson had 18 points. “It was fun,” Ross said. “I told the (first-year) Augusta Christian Coach ( Brian Slade ) that we had some pretty hotly contested games with them, and it didn’t stop with his first game against us for sure. Ty Shine, I’ve watched him play in AAU over the past couple of years, he’s a good player and he played very well.” Hammond, which reached the semifinals last season without any seniors on the team, returned intact this season. In spite of the loss of Tyler, the Skyhawks are a seasoned group that promise to stick around for a possible region title and a playoff run. “It's paying dividends,” Ross said about his team’s experience and tenacity. “We’ve still got several big games to go, but we’ve been playing very well. We played very well tonight but we just came up short.” Since that game the Skyhawks beat Cardinal Newman 62-41 Feb. 4, Heathwood Hall 48-43 Friday, and Ben Lippen 57-39 Saturday. Hammond closed out the regular season at Augusta Christian Monday and Northside Christian Tuesday. The girls team (1-14, 1-7) is having a difficult season after losing seniors who led the Skyhawks to a 15-6 record last season. Their only victory of the season was a 42-38 win over Cardinal Newman. Hammond played tough against Augusta Christian Jan. 31 but fell 32-21. The Skyhawks also lost the rematch with the Cardinals 29-23 Feb. 4.