Swampcats complete a three-peat in SCISA AAAA softball.

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor  Manning -- After losing to Pinewood Prep 3-1 on Friday in the SCISA AAAA softball state tournament at Patriot Park SportPlex in Sumter ,, Laurence Manning Academy had to do yeoman's work on Saturday to keep alive its hopes of being a 3-time state champion. It did just that, beating Heathwood Hall 6-1 and Wilson Hall 12-0 and 6-4 to win its bracket and advance to the best-of-3 state championship series. Awaiting the Lady 'Cats on Monday at Julie Skolar Field was the one and the same Pinewood Prep, which came into the game undefeated at 27-0. LMA broke through for four runs in the bottom of the third inning and went on to a 6-4 victory. "There again, it goes back to the tournament," said Laurence Manning head coach Buddy Truett . "It was just a case of hitting and passing the bats on down and believing in themselves. We had a good tournament on Saturday and it carried over." Laurence Manning, now 18-4, will be trying to wrap up its third consecutive AAAA state championship on Tuesday in Summerville . The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. If a third game is needed, it will be played on Wednesday at Orangeburg Prep beginning at 6 p.m. The Lady 'Cats scored their only run on Friday against Panthers frehsman pitcher Morgan Everitt in the top of the first. They didn't score for the final six innings of that game and the first two innings on Monday. The 4-spot in the third put the momentum squarely in LMA's favor. "That was huge for us," said Truett, whose team is playing in its fifth straight championship series. "We had the midneset going in to have the same pitching and . play the same defense and believe in ourselves at bat. We wanted to play the mental game, play some small ball and mix it up The girls held to it and it worked out for us. " PP scored twice in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit in half, but Laurence Manning answered with two in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-2. Pinewood Prep rallied in the seventh. scoring twice, but it wasn't enough. Senior Caroline Welch got the win in the circle, going 6 1/3 innings. Seventh-grader Avery Floyd came in to record the final two outs and get the save. Welch scattered eight hits and and walked seven. Seventh-grader Avery Floyd came in to record the final two outs and get the save. To Welch's defense, four of the seven walks were intentional passes to Everitt. She hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the first on Friday to supply the Panthers' offense. "You take that home run away it's probably a different game," Truett said. "We took the bat our of hands. We just felt like if we can play defense we'd be OK. I didn't want that one person to beat us again." The Lady 'Cats were outstanding on defense. They turned four double plays behind Welch. LMA finished with seven hits, three of them going for extra bases. Seniors Marlee Black and Ashley Rae Hodge had two hits apiece. Black had a double and scored a run, while Hodge also had a double to go with two runs batted in and a run. Welch had the other extra-base hit, a triple, to go with an RBI. Senior Lyza Prickelmyer had a hit and scored twice, and senior Lily Wellborn had the other hit.Freshmen Kendall Tanner and Mcree Holcombe each scored a run. Everitt didn't record an out in Laurence Manning's 4-run third. She worked two innings, allowing four runs, only one of which was earned. She allowed three hits and two walks while striking out two. Alexis Buso pitched the final four innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk while striking out four. PP finished with eight hits with seventh-grader Sarah Grace Wickersham picking up two. Eighth-grader Kensley Gibbs had a hit , a run and an RBI, while sophomore Makayla Sullivan , seventh=grader Sofia Reed and freshman Grace Snyder each had a hit and a run. Sophomore Juliet Sussman had a hit and an RBI, and Buso had a hit. Reed and Sussman each had a double.

Pee Dee softball after 5th straight title; Laurence Manning softball, Hilton Head Christian baseball after 3 in a row.

Max Poulakis is one of five seniors Pinewood Prep relies on for leadership on and off the field. 

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Sumter —The land-mark coaching orbit of Pinewood Prep boys’ basketball head coach Pat Eidson keeps getting closer to 1,000 career wins, as the Panthers (27-6) capped off the 2025-26 season with a SCISA AAAA state championship over Heathwood Hall (61-49) at the Sumter Civic Center on February, 27. The Panthers only led 20-18 at the half against the Highlanders, and Coach Eidson, and his staff made some key adjustments at the half. “At halftime, we decided to speed the game up with a more up-tempo offense and to press a little more to try and force turnovers,” said Coach Eidson, who became the state’s all-time wins leader with over 944 career wins at the mid-point of last season. Coach Eidson will enter the 2026-27 season needing around 20 wins to hit the 1,000-career win mark. “We were successful with these adjustments and it ended up being the difference in the game,” said Coach Eidson. “They were basically the same team we saw early in the season. They did all the stuff we expected them to. “This state championship is really sweet,” said Coach Eidson. “As you get older, you learn to appreciate it a whole lot more. I know the amount of effort and work that went into this season so I can appreciate it. Returning all five starters this season, I knew we had a chance to be pretty good and we were. “I’m really happy for the kids, especially the seniors,” said Coach Eidson. “ Jayden Alexander and Jonathan Slawson are senior starters who have done a great job for us and Bralon Blackwell made contributions coming off the bench. “I said all season that this team had Potential to win a state title, and tonight we played up to that potential,” said Coach Eidson. “It was one of our better second halves all season.” Over-all, Coach Eidson has now won 12 state titles in his historic coaching career with 9 of these titles coming at Pinewood Prep. “It has been 15 years, or so since we won out last state title so it feels great to finally get another one for our players, fans and the school,” he said. “We are already looking forward to next season.” Heathwood Hall (21-8) head coach Brian Benator was proud of his team for all of their hard work also. “We had a stretch tonight where we struggled to make some shots and they had a stretch where they hit a couple three’s to go up on us 8 to 10 points,” said Coach Benator. “They also put more pressure defense on us in the second half and that helped them get several transition baskets. “The lid was on the rim tonight against us,” said Coach Benator. “We just had some problems making shots tonight. “We came into the game off a great week of practice and focus,” said Coach Benator. “I felt like we came in ready to play tonight. Our guys have been motivated all season and we had not lost a game since January, 3 rd . “I am proud of the effort of our team tonight and we’ll be back next season,” concluded the coach. Pinewood Prep was led on the scoring index by 6-3 junior forward Tre Green who had 24 points and 6-7 junior forward Kais Parris who had 18 points. Also, 6-8 junior center Tripp Eidson had 12 points and directed the defense from the top of the paint all game. Eidson had a monster dunk, off of a steal, with 3:2 left in the game that extended the Panthers lead to 51-39 at the time. Slawson contributed five points and Jayden Alexander closed out the scoring with two points. With the return of Green, Parris and Eidson to the team next season expect the Panthers to be favored to repeat next season. Heathwood Hall was led on offense by 8 th grader Jackson Dickerson with 10 points followed by senior guard Deuce Claxton and soph Hunter Colins with 9 points each. Senior forward Xander Pertile contributed 8 points and senior Ryan Pfister , soph Peyton Souter , and junior Keon McKinley each scored two points. Heathwood Hall led 14-11 after the first period. However, the Panthers rallied to lead 20-18 at the half. The pace picked up in the third period when the Panthers outscored Heathwood 18-14 to take a 38-32 lead into the final period. The SCISA AAAA boys all-tournament team was represented by Zy Dennis of Laurence Manning , along Chip Ravenell and Keon McKinley from Heathwood Hall. Pinewood Prep was represented by Green, Parris,

Friday games were exciting games at the Sumter Civic Center with Wardlaw fighting back to win the Girls 1A state title, then First Baptist and Pinewood Prep toughing it out to claim the 4A Girls and Boys state titles. 

Some of action in the SCISA Basketball tournament so far!

Pinewood senior Jonathan Slawson is a highly rated point guard.

Running back Grayson Salego is one of several starters who should return to the Panthers’ football team next season. Photo by Roger Lee.