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.

Dillon's Zay Robertson.

Hanahan High School promotes Jamie Kock to head coach of the girls varsity volleyball. Koch, who has moved up from the junior varsity, takes over for former coach Sheena Lanham.

By Rob Gantt Special to the HSSR HANAHAN – Hanahan High School’s baseball team waves goodbye to seniors Riley Ballard , Joe Furse and Garrett Brown after finishing the 2025 campaign in the Lower State championship game this spring. Ballard, a Citadel signee, missed a portion of the season but was the Hawks’ ace when healthy. Furse, who batted leadoff and patrolled the outfield, garnered all-region and all-state nods, and Brown contributed to the infield. “It was an awesome season,” second-year Hawks coach Skylar Hunter said . “I think the bottom line is that we competed very well and had great senior leadership. You don’t do what we did without guys like Riley, Joe and Garrett. You’ve got to give it to them.” Hunter’s team capped the year with a 21-11-2 record and finished second in the region. Hanahan won a postseason district title. As for the 2026 season, the Hawks can return a veteran group led by junior catcher Hudson Sprovero , junior second baseman Bo Brabham and eighth-grader pitcher/infielder Nolyn Nickels . All three earned all-region nods, with Sprovero also joining Furse on the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association’s all-state squad. Sprovero was one of the Lowcountry’s top power hitters this season and finished in double digits home runs. “We’ve seen how these kids can compete with all the chips on the table,” Hunter said. “There are six or seven more months before we get back on the field, and you look forward to seeing what kind of development they’re going to make. We’ll get into the weight room and see what happens.”  More returning starters are sophomore pitcher/infielder Chris Polm , sophomore shortstop Wyatt Muirheid , junior outfielder/pitcher Gunnar Haulbrooks and freshman outfielder Tripp Gallus . Sophomore infielder Zac Jimenez , freshman infielder Richard Atencio and freshman outfielder Charlie Wood were regulars in the lineup, too.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to HSSR Hanahan – Nothing in baseball causes a coach more stress than when his pitching staff can’t find the strike zone as was the case for Fox Creek in the second and third innings Monday night as home standing Hanahan took full advantage by scoring 9 runs and then they had to withstand a Fox Creek rally to advance into the lower state final with a 9-8 win. “I’m proud of our guys. We got down five in the second inning but they didn’t hang their heads. We are a young team but these guys never give up, they never stop fighting and they always compete,” said Head coach Skylar Hunter. The Hawks will take on region rival and the HSSR’s second ranked team Oceanside Collegiate (26-5). The teams have played three times this season with the Landsharks winning all three. The Hawks will have to win twice to advance to their eight state championships series and third in a row. Fox Creek ends the season at 23-7. The Predators will also say good bye to nine seniors that were the backbone of back-to-back region and district champions. “I’m proud of this team. They battled to the end and showed a lot of grit all game,” said Head Coach Roby Gillespie. “This senior class has set the precedent for future teams. We tell the guys ‘Good isn’t good enough, strive to be great’ and this team did that every day.” After an uneventful first inning, the Predators came alive in the second. Bradley Anderson led off the inning with a single. After a strikeout, Will Frischmann stepped to the plate and launched a bomb to right center for a two-run tater and a 2-0 lead. Hanahan starter Chris Polm then walked the next three Fox Creek batters. The first batter that walked Jackson Wright was thrown out by the Hawks Hudson Sprovero for the second out of the inning. Caleb Waters had an infield single for Fox Creek to load the bases with two out. Will Fountain would score on an error and then Anderson plated two runs with a single pushing the lead to 5-0. The Hawks would respond in their half of the second with help from Fox Creek starting pitcher Devin Hillary. With one out Hillary walked Wyatt Muirheid. Zac Jimenez singled to put runners on first and second. Hillary then struck out the next batter before he couldn’t find the strike and walked the next three Hanahan which resulted in two runs cutting the Predators lead to 5-2. In the bottom of the third the Hawks would take the lead with a seven-run inning. It started with a lazy fly out to right. Hillary then walked the next two Hawks. Two wild pitches and a passed ball moved both runners up to second and third. Jimenez singled to scored Polm from third and still leaving the bases loaded.  Gunnar Haulbrooks came up next and singled scoring Muirheid and Jimenez and the game was tied at 5. The inning continued as Tripp Gallus had infield single and Joe Furse walked to load the bases. Sprovero came up next and promptly deposited the ball over the left field fence for a grand slam giving the Hawks a 9-5 lead. Fox Creek’s would bring in their fourth pitcher of the game Audyn Randall, who would get Jimenez to ground out to second base to end the inning. Randall pitched the finals 3 1/3 innings for Fox Creek and shutdown the Hawks offense. He struck out the side in the fourth and gave up only one hit to keep the Predators in the game. “Audyn maybe pitched four or five innings for us all. He came up to me and said coach give me the ball, I know I can throw strikes. He got up there and did his job to keep us in the game,” said Fox Creek coach Gillespie. Meanwhile, Hanahan brought in Haulbrooks in the second inning and he pitched well until the fifth inning. “Gunnar did a good job of settling us down in the middles innings and he also a big hit to bring two runs,” coach Hunter said. The Predators would draw closer to the Hawks as they scored twice to cut the lead to 9-7. Chance Weathersbee singled with one out and moved to second when Wright drew two out walk. Will Fountain would score both runners when he hit a triple into the right field corner. Hillary would cut the lead to one in the top of the sixth when he hit a solo shot over the right centerfield fence and suddenly the Predators were down only one at 9-8. The Hawks made a pitching change after the home run going to lefty Nolyn Nickels. Nickels would walk the first batter he faced but then got the final four outs of the game including striking out the last two batters and the Hawks were headed to the Lower State finals.

Hananhan's Hudson Sprovero who blasted a three run homer rounds the bases.