Minton proud of season had by Florence Christian girls basketball team
Anna Kate Huggins, Emerson Poston, Demi Greene All-Region picks
Florence – Florence Christian School girls basketball head coach Neil Minton believes his team just completed a tremendous season.
“I am really proud of our team this year,” said the longtime Eagles head coach. “We proved we can compete at a high level.”
Florence Christian went 15-10 on the season, but more importantly 7-1 in SCISA Region 3-AAA. The Eagles shared the region crown with eventual state champion Pee Dee Academy, splitting the two regular-season contests.
The teams played three times with Pee Dee winning the first game 37-25 at home on January 10. Florence Christian won the second meeting 48-29 at home on January 28. The third meeting came in the championship game of the region tournament with PDA winning 39-36 in overtime.
Florence Christian defeated Calhoun Academy 36-21 in the first round of the AAA state tournament. It lost out in the quarterfinals, falling to Hilton Head Prep 43-38.
Sophomore Emerson Poston, junior Anna Kate Huggins and junior Demi Greene were all selected to the All-Region team. Poston and Greene were also chosen to play in the North-South All-Star Game.
Poston led the Eagles in all four major categories. She averaged 10.4 points per game, 8.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 3.9 steals.
Greene averaged 7.9 points and 2.4 rebounds, while Huggins averaged 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.0 steals.
With the Eagles losing just two seniors in Elise Hicks and Karley Hickson, Minton is looking toward the future.
“I am thankful for the time God allowed me to spend with our two seniors, and we are very excited about next year,” he said.
TAYLOR GREENE, RILEY MINTON BOYS ALL-REGION
Junior Taylor Greene and freshman Riley Minton of the Florence Christian boys basketball team were selected to the All-Region team.
Greene, who was also selected to play in the North-South Game, led the Eagles in scoring with a 19.1 average He also led the way in rebounding at 5.4 and assists at 3.3 to go along with 1.7 steals.4
Minton, the son of the girls head coach, led Florence Christian in steals with a 2.5 average. He was the second leading scorer at 9.8 to go with 2.0 steals.
Two other freshmen, Sullivan Hardy and Brayden Berry, were the next leading scorers. Hardy averaged 6.3 and Berry 6.2
The Eagles finished with an 11-13 record. They beat Spartanburg Chrisian Academy 52-46 in the first round of the state tournament before losing to eventual 3-time state champion Hilton Head Prep in the quarterfinals.
