Oceanside Collegiate gets past BHP to claim 3A state championship
Worthy Evans • December 14, 2024
By WORTHY EVANS
Contributing Writer
ORANGEBURG – Moving up to 3A in the South Carolina High School League’s classification system didn’t bother Oceanside Collegiate. Neither did losing the head coach who led the Sharks to the 2A state championship last year.
What mattered for Oceanside Saturday afternoon at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium was the steady guidance of interim head coach John Patterson, and sophomore quarterback Aidan Manavian connecting regularly with senior wide receivers against Belton-Honea Path.
Manavian was 21-for-26 in passing for 326 yards and four touchdowns in the Shark’s 35-17 victory over the Bears to capture the 3A state championship.
“It feels good. It beats the alternative, losing, I don’t like that,” Patterson said with a laugh. “It was a lot of adversity, but that’s what football is, that’s what life is. That’s what football teaches. You’ve got to keep showing up every day, grind, and if bad stuff happens you’ve just to to overcome it.”
Oceanside Collegiate (11-3) moved up to 3A this year when the High School League instituted a student multiplier for charter schools that had the ability to recruit athletes outside of their school zones. The Sharks had beaten Gray Collegiate 35-28 for the 2A state championship the year before, but opened the season with a 35-7 loss at Irmo in August.
After that defeat, head coach Chad Wilkes resigned for personal reasons. Patterson, an assistant with nearly 40 years of coaching experience, including head-coaching stints at Providence Day School in North Carolina and at James Island from 2007-2011, took over the Sharks.
After that loss at Irmo, which played Northwestern Saturday night for the 5A Division 2 state championship, and a loss at Dutch Fork, which won its 9th state championship with a 5A Division 1 victory over Summerville, Oceanside Collegiate caught fire. The Sharks reeled off 10 straight victories and claimed a second-straight crown with the win over BHP (13-2).
“We knew how good Dutch Fork was, one of the top 15 teams in the country,” Patterson said. “We were outmanned and didn’t have all our ammunition either. We kind of flushed it: ‘there’s the game, and it’s over, flush it.”
Patterson added that the team asked him what he was happy about, “and I told them, hey, it’s like butter, because we’re ready to go on a roll, baby. That’s how that went down.”
Oceanside stayed on that roll Saturday, moving the football up and down the field with ease,
Manavian’s chief target among his seniors was Will Virgilio, who had five catches for 134 yards. Peyton Shaw had five catches for 66 yards, and Gavin Gasper had four catches for 65 yards and two TDs. Junior Terrence Johnson had five receptions for 57 yards and a score.
“We come out every day to work as hard as we can, stay late, getting extra routes in,” Manavian said. “When you come out here and get a Dub, we’re already here, we’re on time, we’re ready to go. It feels great.”
On defense the Sharks absorbed the furious running of BHP running back and Clemson commit Marquise Henderson.
Henderson came into the game with 1,934 yards and finished the day with 188 yards and a touchdown on 42 carries. He even filled in for quarterback Noah Thomas, who went down with an injury in the first half.
“Unbelievable player. Best to ever come through BHP,” Bears head coach Russell Blackston said. “He has 104 (career) touchdowns, I believe. The kid’s an unbelievable player, a Mr. Football candidate. A good player, man.”
Oceanside built a 21-7 lead in the first half, scoring first on Manavian’s 9-yard touchdown strike to Johnson in the first quarter.
Belton-Honea Path responded in the second quarter with Henderson’s 3-yard TD run, but the Bears gave up back-to-back scores before the half.
Manavian connected with Shaw for a 25-yard touchdown art the 7:41 mark, and after BHP botched a pooch kickoff reception, the Sharks recovered and Johnson closed out the short drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone at the 5:58 mark.
“They got an extra possession after we lost it in the sun,” Bears head coach Russell Blackston said. “We’d worked on that type of stuff all week, we just lost it in the sun.”
The Bears drove to midfield on a clock-draining possession, but turned the ball over on downs. Oceanside Collegiate eventually punted to the BHP 1-yard line, where the Bears ran two plays and called it a half.
Belton-Honea Path started the second half down 21-7 to the Sharks, and without Thomas at quarterback. Henderson shifted from tailback to quarterback and kept the Bears running.
BHP moved downfield for most of the third quarter with Henderson running on most of the plays. On first and goal at the Oceanside 5-yard line he gave the ball to Justin Lathon, who barreled into the end zone at the 2:26 mark to cut the lead to 21-14.
BHP defender K.J. Miles picked off a Manavian pass on Oceanside’s next possession, which led to Bears kicker Christian Bridwell’s 42-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in the third.
That was as close as Oceanside would let the Bears come. Manavian closed out the victory with fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 19 and 13 yards to Gavin Gaspar.
“We practiced for this every week. We’ve been ready for this, and we know what it’s like to be here,” Gaspar said. “I can’t say nothing bad about this team. I love everybody. No better way to go out.”
BHP was looking to win its first state championship since 2004, when the Bears beat Dillon for the 3A title. Unfortunately, the school will have to try again.
“I told them I loved them, told them that they had a good year,” Blackston said. “That a lot of teams would love to be where we’re at.”
WIth two straight state championships in hand, Oceanside is in an enviable position itself. Patterson spread the wealth of victory among the entire team.
“It means a lot, but I’m just a guy on a team, man, seriously,” he said. “I don’t think my role on the team’s any different than anybody else’s. Sometimes you play, sometimes you film, sometimes you manage the trainers, sometimes you’re the assistant coach or the head coach. And the head coach gets way too much credit, honestly. All the credit should go to the assistant coaches and certainly the kids.”
Belton-Honea Path 0 7 10 0 – 17
Oceanside Collegiate 7 14 0 14 – 35
First Quarter
O - Terrence Johnson 9 pass from Aiden Manavian (Nate Sturm kick) 4:47
Second Quarter
B - Marquise Henderson 3 run (Christian Bridwell kick) 9:15
O - Peyton Shaw 25 pass from Manavian (kick failed) 7:41
O - Johnson 1 run (Kyle Baldwin pass from Manavian) 5:58
Third Quarter
B - Justin Lathon 5 run (Bridwell kick) 2:26
B - Bridwell 42 field goal :26
Fourth Quarter
O - Gavin Gaspar 19 pass from Manavian (Sturm kick) 11:40
O - Gaspar 13 pass from Manavian (Sturm kick) 4:07
BHP OCA
First downs 17 16
Rushes-yds 59-234 14-22
Passing yds 16 326
Att-Com-Int 7-4-0 26-21-1
Fumbles-lost 2-1. 1-0
Penalties-yds 6-49 4-30
Punts-avg 2-32.0 3-36.7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
B - Marquise Henderson 42-188, Noah Thomas 5-30, M.J. Earl 5-19, Justin Lathon 4-6, Tajeh Watson-Martin 1-2, Ty Parnell 2-7.
O - Aiden Manavian 7-14, James O’Connor 4-9, Terrence Johnson 1-1, Team 2-2
PASSING
B -Noah Thomas 3-4-0, Marquise Henderson 1-1-0, Ty Parnell 0-1-0, Tajeh Watson-Martin 0-1-0.
O-Aiden Manavian 21-26-1.
RECEIVING
B -Tajeh Watson-Martin 4-16
O-Will Virgilio 5-134, Peyton Shaw 5-66, Gavin Gaspar 4-65, Terrence Johnson 5-57, James O’Connor 1-4, Kyle Baldwin 1-0.
Andrews—East Clarendon out-hit Andrews 6-5 on May, 20, on the road in the AA Lower State softball semi-finals, but the Yellow Jackets took advantage of two errors and six walks to come out on top 5-1, as they advance to play Chesterfield on Friday in the Lower state finals. Joy Weisner is the Andrews head coach, and she told the HSSR after the game: “What we have tried to do all season is take advantage of any opportunities a team gives us,” said Coach Weisner. “We hit the ball better today and that is very important.” Andrews last won a state title in 20218. Andrew had five players earning all-region honors. They were center fielder Sarah Jennings, pitcher Addyson Davis, who will also play in the North-South game. Other all-region selections were junior catcher Chloe Skipper who was the Region MVP, senior Addison McCants, Region MVP outfielder Skipper, and talented sophomore shortstop Tori Smith. Andrews lost to Chesterfield 7-3 this past Monday (May 18). “We have to hit the ball better when we go to them this Friday,” said Coach Weisner. “We didn’t hit the ball well at all this past Monday when we played Chesterfield. We hit the ball well today, so we just have to keep that momentum going into Friday. “We have to go to Chesterfield and beat them twice,” said Coach Wesiner. “We have to play some of our best softball this season in order to that, so I hope we are focused. We need to start the game with momentum and end the game with momentum when we play at Chesterfield. East Clarendon (25-8) head coach Jason Newsome closed out his third season in the loss. “I thought our pitcher hung tough (Addyson Davis) today and she is just a freshman and she has been learning by fire all year long,” said Coach Newsome. “She is extremely talented and she is a good pitcher now, but she is going to an even better pitcher in the future.” Coach Newsome. “In the playoffs the margin of error is very thin and the mistakes we made, they took advantage of,” said Coach Newsome. “On the other hand, the mistakes they made, and the opportunities they gave us we didn’t take advantage of them and that was a key in the game. They did a good job of keeping us off-balance.” All region players from EC included: Region POY Peyton Hanniford, Bailey Hicks, Riley Atkinson, Layke Jeffords, and Zoey Culick. The score was tied 0-0 until the bottom of the third when Andrews scored four runs. Karaline Gainey singled to start the inning and was advanced on a sac bunt by Lauren Stump to second. Sarah Jennings next singled to left field advancing Gainey to third. Torian Smith drew a walk. Then Jenna Cook hit a ball deep into the corner down the first base line that resulted in an inside the park grand slam. Andrew added an insurance run in the bottom of the 4thwhen B. Walker singled and advanced on a single by Gainey. Stump was then Hit by pitcher to load the bases. Sarah Jennings then hit an RBI ground out that brought in Walker to account for the Yellow Jackets’ five runs.
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By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Sumter – The Wilson Hall softball team came up short of reaching the SCISA AAAA state championship series, which is a goal for everyone at the start of the season. Only two can get there though, so while not fun to come up short, it is bearable. However, the way things went down for the Barons this season didn’t help at all. Wilson Hall just needed one victory on Day 2 of the state tournament at Patriot Park SportPlex in Sumter to punch its ticket to the title series. Instead, the Barons lost to archrival Laurence Manning Academy twice by the scores of 12-0 and 6-4. LMA advanced to the best-of-3 series instead and swept Pinewood Prep to win a third straight championship. In retrospect though, Barons head coach Teresa Alexander finds it hard not to be proud of the season her team had. “The season’s ending didn’t turn out how we had hped, but I’m really proud of the tough schedule we played and the success we had all year.,” said Alexander, who guided Wilson Hall to a 21-7 record. “I’m excited to see this young bunch return with the experience they now have under their belts. But we will truly miss our seniors, Addie Griffin and Marymae Lampron .” The Barons had four players selected to the All-Region 3-AAAA team in Griffin, freshman pitcher Marsha Kate Skey , sophomore shortstop Mary Paisley Geddings and junior catcher Caroline Moorman . Griffin, who played left field, had a .279 batting average to go with an on-base percentage of .423. She had one double, one triple, one home run, 13 runs batted in and 18 runs scored. Skey was a standout in the circle as Wilson Hall’s primary pitcher. Shd had a `1.69 earned run average to go with 115 strikeouts. At the plate, Skey batted .400 with an OBP of .489. She had three doubles, two triples, 17 RBI and 33 runs. Geddings batted .317 with a .406 OBP to go with seven doubles, one triple, four homers, 26 RBI and 28 runs. Moorman had 14 RBI, 17 runs and four doubles to go with a .354 batting average and an OBP of .429. Other returning starters are freshman second baseman Tatiana Erichsen , freshman outfielder Anna Meldrim , sophomore third baseman Lilly Grace Przybyla , freshman outfielder Emmie Williamson and eighth-grade centerfielder Caroline Andrews . Meldrim hit .412 with three homers, 31 RBI and 24 runs, Przybyla hit .373 with 21 runs and 15 RBI, Williamson batted .263 with an OBP of .500, and Erichsen batted .324 with 19 RBI and 23 runs.
Williamsburg runners makes diving slide for the plate in the playoffs. (Photo by Mara Feagin)
Lady Patriots Katherine Trotter, Bailey Sturkie, Ellie Yonce, Taylor Hilll and Brianna McNeill (not pictured) were selected to the North-South All-Star Team!
By Rob Gantt Special to the HSSR ST. STEPHEN - Timberland High School’s boys track and field team finished fourth in the state Saturday, May 15, at Richland Northeast High School. The Wolves, who finished with 45 points, produced state champions in multiple events. They placed three points out of a tie for second place. Hurdler Malyk Goodman won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.63 seconds and jumper Carter Hawkins soared to victory in the triple jump with a mark of 14.24 meters. Goodman also placed third in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.82 and Hawkins finished second in the long jump with an effort of 6.65 meters. Timberland’s boys sent three more to the awards podium. Hurdler Day’vian Bennett placed third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.89 seconds. Jumper Antaun Faison finished sixth in the long jump with a mark of 6.51 meters. The boys’ 4x100-meter relay team posted a time of 43.17 seconds to place seventh. For Timberland’s boys, jumper Robert Roberts finished 11th in the triple jump with an effort of 12.11 meters, while the 4x800-meter relay placed 11th and 4x400-meter relay team 13th. The Timberland girls finished 10th in the state and sent quite a few to the awards podium (top 8). Kennahdi Murrell placed third in the 400-meter hurdles, sixth in the 100-meter hurdles and seventh in the high jump. Kemani Lampkin finished fifth in the 800-meter run and Jermanee Washington placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles. China Greene recorded a sixth-place finish in the 400 hurdles and teammate Kiana Glenn was two spots back in eighth. Tiana Jefferson finished 12th in the long jump and 13th in the 400-meter dash. Zoe Cooper was 13th in the discus. Timberland’s girls placed eighth in the 4x400-meter relay and 10th in the 4x100 relay.
The THA golf program is relatively new but interest seems to be gaining each year.
Senior Jayden Bennett has had some key turns at bat for Summerville during the playoffs.
Lukas Kowlok headlined by repeating as the state champion in the pole vault soaring over the bar at 4.85 meters.
By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia - The pain of falling out of the 5A Division 2 District 4 tournament May 11 was still fresh when longtime White Knoll softball head coach talked about the season the next day. The Timberwolves (14-13, 7-3) faced Berkeley for the second time in the tournament. The Stags held a 6-3 lead but White Knoll rallied for two runs in the seventh. After Melinda Veler drew a walk, Reginae Porterfield swatted a 1-out double to put runners at second and third. Lillian Priest lined out on the next at-bat, but Berkeley first baseman Emma Drawdy misplayed Adelynn Lewis’ ground ball, enabling Veler and Porterfield to score and cut the Stags’ lead to 6-5. With Lewis on base representing the tying run, Jaida Gray struck out swinging to end the hopes of an upset, and close out an otherwise great Timberwolves season. “It’s hard to shake it off. In the season you go to the next game but at the end of the season you can’t,” said Farr, who watched her team take a 3-0 lead only to be hit with Berkeley’s run in the third and a five-run fourth. “I could see my kids kind of feeling it, you could see it in my kids eyes,” she added. “We’ve got to fight to survive and they rallied around those seniors. They knew their time was coming and for two outs we were down 6-5. And that last pitch, it’s a hard way to go out. We’ve got to regroup and build off of what we did this year.” White Knoll beat Socastee 8-7 May 4 to get into the bracket, then upset Berkeley 3-2 May 6. West Florence , led by phenomenal pitcher Annie Eliason (19-0, 0.00 ERA, 309 strikeouts; who gave up two hits and struck out 20) beat White Knoll 7-0 May 8 to set up the rematch with the Stags. While the season ended on a sour note, there was much to praise about a team that Farr said few people would look to as contenders. After a young Timberwolves team battled through trials and tribulations, injuries and other issues, Farr said she watched her team come together in the second half of region play. “On senior night we really started playing for each other and giving it everything we had,” Farr said. “They worked their tails off to get better every single day and it showed. We have 12 players who fought their hearts out. We got to that fourth game, and our losses were close. We were right there, and it really was just one lucky pitch and that’s how the runs ended up.” White Knoll loses just two seniors in Priest and Gracie Fisher , but those seniors made a huge impact on the team. Priest had three home runs, 11 RBI, 34 hits and a .405 batting average. Fisher batted .311 with a double and 14 RBI. “Those two seniors have left their legacy, and we’ll continue with what they started on this swing upward,” Farr said. “We’re really excited that everyone else is returning.” Among the returners are freshmen Veler and Porterfield, and sophomores Charity West and E.G. Birchmore . Porterfield finished with a .393 batting average and a team-leading four home runs and six triples, six doubles and 20 RBI. Veler had 31 hits and 17 RBI to go with a .360 batting average an a .415 on-base percentage. West hit .323 with 11 hits and 10 runs batted in. “Mindy Veler started out in left field since seventh grade and she’s fantastic,” Farr said. “She’s got speed and runs down everything in the outfield but she’s really a good infielder, can play shortstop without missing a beat. An unbelievably great kid who won’t talk very loud but she’s a leader. “Reginae, that kid is small but she’s strong and compact. She can fly and you can’t get anything past her in centerfield,” Farr said. “Charity has been our DP and catcher. She puts the ball in play and has quality at-bats.” Birchmore caught fire in the circle late in the game and finished the season with a 2.23 earned-run average. She was 3-1 in five appearances. “E.G. is a pitcher and utility player, one of those kids in the past couple of years who was always there,” Farr said. “We didn’t expect her to be our starting pitcher but in the back half of the season she started to pour it on and keep us in games. She’s a battler along with our other pitchers.” The White Knoll baseball team finished 10-14 and 5-5 in Region 4-5A, but had a bounce-back season after going 7-22 and 0-10 the year before. The Timberwolves reached the play-in series of the 5A Division 2 District 3 tournament, but fell two games to zero in the best-of-three series with Lugoff - Elgin . White Knoll fell 4-1 in game one, but rallied for six runs in game two after falling behind 7-0. The Timberwolves had a 4-run rally going on in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and two men on, but a strikeout closed out the game and the season. Senior Dillon Woods led the team with a .465 batting average, five home runs and a .573 on-base percentage. Senior Jean Maldonado batted .364, and junior Tra Johnson batted .329. The team loses six seniors but has plenty of younger hitters, fielders, and pitchers to put together another successful season next year.