East Clarendon boys basketball team has two freshmen, six sophomores

Turbeville – The East Clarendon High School boys basketball team is young, very young. With

the Wolverines off to a 5-7 overall start, head coach Patrick Kelly has no issues with his team.

“They are playing at my expectations at this time,” said Kelly, whose team lost its Region 7-AA

opener to Lake City. “We are a young team. I have two freshmen and six sophomores on this team.”

The two freshmen are James Gamble and Tycere Cooper and both are in the starting lineup.

Gamble is a returning starter as he led the team with 16.0 points per game. He is leading the team in

scoring this year with a 13.3 average and in rebounding at 7.7.

Junior Jaylon Barron is a returning starter as is senior Whit Nesbitt, who was the second

leading scorer last season. He has yet to play this season though due to a football injury but is expected

back in January.

The other starters are sophomore Ke’Shaun Porter and senior Darius McCray. Barron is

averaging 5.3 points and 5.0 rebounds while Porter is averaging 6.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.

Seeing significant time off the bench are sophomores Christian Makell, Braylon Hunt and

Damon Evans. Makell is the second leading scorer at 8.3 while Hunt is averaging 6.2.

“We are in a very good region,” Kelly said. “Four of the teams are ranked in AA (Manning,

Mullins, Atlantic Collegiate and Marion). Lake City and Kingstree are also good teams.

`“For us to make the playoffs we will have to take care of the basketball and not turn it over. We

need to get four wins, which will be difficult in this region. If we can limit our turnovers we should be

competitive in all our games.”

EC GIRLS OPEN 2-6

Demetress Adams-Ludd led the East Clarendon girls basketball team to a 19-6 record last year

in her first season as head coach. The Wolverines may yet get there again this season, but they have not

come out of the gate fast.

“The team had a slow start to the season,” Adams-Ludd said. “However, we are progressing well.

Time and experience will help move this team to our program’s expectations.”

ECHS is having to replace the 17.0 points of graduated Hayden White. Returning is sophomore

double-figure scorer Cherish Cochran, who is averaging a team high 13.7 points and 2.3 assists.

The other starters are freshmen Bailey Hicks, Tymani Cooper and Kierstin Woods and senior

Jasmyne Lloyd. Lloyd is averaging 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds, Woods is averaging 7.7 points and 3.4

rebounds, Hicks is averaging 5.8 points and 1.3 steals and Cooper is averaging 4.0 points, 1.3 assists and

1.7 steals.

The rest of the roster includes senior Hailey Robinson, junior Shae Lee, junior Addison

Fleming, junior Courtney McFadden and freshman Payton Hanniford.

EC FOOTBALL HAS 7 ALL-REGION PICKS

East Clarendon had seven selections to the All-Region 7 football team. The Wolverines, who

finished 8-4 and second in the region, are represented by junior athlete Takoda Cornelius, senior wide

receiver Nesbitt, senior linebacker Hunter Mixon, junior defensive tackle Xavier Smith, senior running

back Jay Webb, senior defensive end Jordan Wright and senior H back Dawson Beard.

Cornelius was the quarterback and rushed for 466 yards and 10 touchdowns on 79 carries through

11 games. He completed 69 of 142 passes for 901 yards and 10 TDs. As a defensive back, Cornelius had

25 tackles, two tackles for loss and three interceptions.

Nesbitt had a team high 34 catches for 547 yards and eight TDs. As a defensive back, Nesbitt had

22 tackles, four TFLs and three INTs. Mixon had 74 tackles and a team high 20 TFLs, 2 ½ quarterback

sacks, three fumble recoveries and two INTs. As a running back, Mixon had 356 yards and seven TDs on

79 carries.

Webb was the leading rusher with 684 yards and five TDs on 107 carries. Smith had 34 tackles

and nine TFLs, while Wright had 24 tackles, 11 TFLs and a team high 3 ½ sacks. Beard had 29 catches

for 319 yards and a TD and ran for two scores.