Mullins boys basketball team has another successful “interesting” season

           Mullins – Eric Troy just completed his seventh season as the boys baske5ball head coach at Mullins High School. The Auctioneers have had a lot of success over that time frame, and this season was no different. They finished with a 19-6 record.

           However, this campaign had a different feeling to it, according to Troy.

           “This season was a very interesting season,” said Troy, who has compiled a 105-44 record at MHS. “We had several returning players but most were inexperienced and young. Early, we challenged them with tough competition, playing seven games in seven days and finished 6-1. We lost some region (7-AA) games that we felt we should’ve won and went through a period of doubt but never hung our heads.”

           Mullins finished third in region play with an 8-4 record. Eventual state champion Atlantic Collegiate Academy won the region title with an 11-1 record, while Manning finished second with a 9-3 mark.

           Finishing third meant the Auctioneers didn’t get to play a home playoff game. That didn’t deter them in the first two rounds, beating Lake Marion 78-60 and knocking off Philip Simmons 48-37.

MHS’ season came to an end though with a 67-42 loss to Atlantic Collegiate in the quarterfinals. It was the third meeting of the season with ACA, a first-year charter school. Mullins handed Atlantic Collegiate its only region loss in the first meeting, winning 66-64 in overtime. The Armada won the second meeting 55-32 in the regular-season finale.

“Our guys finished pretty strong, making it to the third round with a defeat by Atlantic Collegiate Academy,” Troy said. “I am extremely proud of our guys this year and know that we are among the best in the state against schools in our classification.”

           Sophomore Dakarai Worley was selected to the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association AA All-State team. The Auctioneers had two players selected to the All-Region 7 team in Worley and junior Deyon Ford.

           Worley actually averaged a double-double for the year, scoring at 14.7 ppoints per game while pulling down a team high 10.2 rebounds. He also led in steals at 3.8 and blocked shots at 2.7 to go with 2.4 assists.

           Ford led MHS in scoring and assists with per-game averages of 16.6 points and 3.4 assists, respectively. He also averaged 3.0 steals and 3.0 rebounds.

           Mullins had four seniors on the roster, led by Ernest Ford. He was the Auctioneers’ third leading scorer at an even 6.0 The other seniors are Lonnie Alston (1.8 ppg in 25 games), Mykell Raysor (1.2 in 23 games) and Jeremie Page (2.5 I 21 games).

           MULLINS GIRLS FINISH WITH 7-9 RECORD

           The Mullins girls basketball team finished with a 7-9 overall record and was 4-8 in region play, good for fifth place. That was good enough to earn them a berth in the state playoffs for the second straight year though.

           The Auctioneers went on the road and dropped a tough 66-50 decision to Region 6 champion Burke in the first round. Burke led 15-8 after one quarter, but MHS rallied to tie the game at 27-27 at halftime. The Bulldogs outscored Mullins 19-9 in the third quarter to take control of the game though.

           The Auctioneers had one player selected to the All-Region team in freshman NaRiyah Woodberry. She led team in scoring with a 12.5 average. Another freshman, Breanna Ford, average 10.6 points and junior Moriah McLeod averaged 8.8.