Heathwood Hall Boys Turn The Corner, Look To SCISA Tournament And The Years To Come

By WORTHY EVANS

Contributing Writer

Columbia - After three years of coaching the Heathwood Hall boys basketball team, head coach Brian Benator said his team is reveling in the success of the 2025-2026 season and hungry for more.



The Highlanders (19-7 overall and 10-0 in SCISA Region 1-4A) clinched their first region championship since 2017 and have a first-round bye in the SCISA 4A tournament that tips off Saturday. They play the winner of Saturday’s Porter-Gaud – John Paul II matchup on Monday.

The team, anchored with five seniors who have played through the ups and downs of the past three years, also has a solid group of underclassmen. All of them look to make their mark on this year and keep hitting their stride in the years to come.

“When we put the group together at the end of last year … we thought this team had an opportunity to be on the top,” Benator explained. “They’ve been through so much. They’ve had their reps, they’ve been through the ups and downs, they saw a postseason run in the semis and an eight-win increase (from 9-18 in 2023-24 to 17-10 in 2024-25). They set the stage this year with consistency, buying in to what we’ve been trying to work toward. They’re a unified group with great energy, and it’s been really fun to coach them.”

Four of those five seniors, Henry Morris, Deuce Claxton, Xander Pertile, and Chip Ravenell, are three-year starters. The 6-feet, 5 inch Morris averages 9.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, Claxton, 6-0, has an 8.9 scoring average, Pertile, 6-5, averages 8.2 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds, and Ravenell, 6-0, averages 7.7 points.

The scoring averages aren’t high, but what Benator noted about the senior group is that any one of the players can have a double-digit night, and any one or two players can lead the team.

“Henry is athletic, plays well around the rim. He missed most of the first half of the season because of football injuries, but since we’ve got him back he’s gone full-tilt since mid-January,” Benator said. “Deuce is our leading three-point shooter, averaging over 40 percent, and he doesn’t make a ton of mistakes and is always in the right spots. Xander, we call him our heart and soul. He has a great basketball mind, is unselfish, he’s good around the basket and the offensive glass and does whatever it takes to win. Chip missed last season with an ACL injury but started as a sophomore. He’s a high energy kid and just a great shooter from multiple spots and is a really good competitor.”

The rest of the roster isn’t so bad, either. Sophomore Hunter Collins, 6-3, leads the team in scoring with an 11.3 average. Junior 6-footer Keon McKinley, a standout wide receiver with 56 catches for 756 yards and three touchdowns in Heathwood Hall’s drive to the 4A state championship game, averages 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds. Eighth-grader Jackson Dickerson, 5-9, averages 3.5 points and Eighth-grader D.J. Scott, 6-2, averages 3.7 points. 

“Hunter was a starter early and he really thrived. He comes off the bench now and his offensive ability makes teams struggle to get a handle on him. He’s a great addition from an offensive standpoint and has great length. He’s one of those guys who can roll in three or four 3s in a row,” Benator said. “Keon missed the first part of the season because of football but was in the starting lineup midyear. He’s a steady influence as a point guard. He doesn’t score a lot of points but he creates offense for his teammates and he’ll also do whatever it takes to win. Our eighth-graders have really stepped up. Jackson is one of our guards and he’s really good with the basketball. D.J. is a really strong inside player and has been good in the last couple of games.”

When asked about is team Benator prefers to talk about the team as a whole, noting the chemistry that has grown naturally over the past three years, and that that chemistry has meshed with the younger talent.

“Again, it’s the whole group,” he added. “You put anybody into the lineup and they will get results. It’s a different guy or guys every night, and that’s helped us have the year we’ve had. It could be the seniors, it could be the young kids. It’s the mixture that works, to know that as a teammate I can pick you up. They’re playing together and cheering each other on for success.”