Kingstree’s Naydia Shaw named All-State, Region Player of the Year

           Kingstree – The Kingstree High School girls basketball team didn’t have quite the amount of success this season for which the Blazers and head coach James Price had hoped. However, when your ultimate goal is playing for a state championship, what KHS accomplished isn’t all that bad.

           “To go 22-6 (overall) and 8-4 in the toughest region (7-AA) for girls basketball and get to the third round (of the state playoffs) for a third year in a row shows we are trending in the right direction,” Price said.

           The Blazers actually finished third in the region behind Lake City and Marion, so to be one of the final eight teams playing in AA speaks to the difficulty of Region 7.

           KHS was led by sophomore center Naydia Shaw. Not only was Shaw selected as the Region Player of the Year, she was also selected to the South Carolia Basketball Coaches Association AA All-State team.

           Shaw averaged a double-double of 18.6 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. She also led the team in assists at 3.1 to go with 3.4 steals.

Joining Shaw on the All-Region team was junior Demia Mosley. She averaged 11.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.4 steals.

           Other key contributors were sophomore Jaiden McKnight, who led in blocked shots with 4.2 to go with 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 points. Sophomore Kamarie McCrea led in steals at 3.6 to go with 5.2 points and 4.1 rebounds, while junior Nyla Wallace averaged 6.2 points.

           Kingstree is losing just one senior in Harmony Mosley, who played in all 28 games. That has Price excited about the future.

           “We will lose only one senior, so my expectation is with a great offseason ahead, my 2025-26 team should get us to our ultimate goal of competing for a state championship,” he said.

           MAL’AKI MATTHEWS ALL-REGION

           Senior point guard Mal’Aki Matthews was selected to the All-Region 7 boys team.

           Matthews was the lone double-figure scorer for the Blazers, averaging 12.1 points.

           KHS finished with a 5-21 record.

           KINGSTREE STILL WITHOUT A FOOTBALL COACH

           Kingstree is still without a football head coach after Brian Smith was fired on January 11 by Williamsburg County School District.

           Smith was fired after three seasons as head coach, first getting the job with the merger of C.E. Murray into Kingstree. Smith had been a successful head coach at C.E. Murray.

Smith’s firing touched off a major backlash in the community with the district announcing on January 21 that it would rehire Smith. However, Smith has yet to take the district up on that offer.

           Smith was 15-20 in his three seasons at Kingstree. The Blazers went 5-6 the first season, losing in the first round of the AA state playoffs. The record was 5-7 the next two years but included wins in the first round of the playoffs. Kingstree had just one playoff victory in the 18 previous seasons and just four 5-win campaigns.

           Smith was the head coach at C.E. Murray twice covering seven years, posting a 43-30 record. He led the War Eagles to a Class A state championship game in 2015 and to a Lower State title game in 2021 in its final year of existence.