Thomas Sumter girls waiting to see where it sits in SCISA AAA tournament

Dalzell – If there was any doubt about whether the Thomas Sumter Academy girls basketball

team would earn a berth in the SCISA AAA state tournament, it likely came to an end on February 7.

The Lady Generals beat Calhoun Academy 38-32 in a semifinal game in the Region 1

tournament. They lost to Orangeburg Prep in the championship game on February 10 and

are now waiting to see where they will be placed in the state tournament, which was set to begin on

February 14-15.

TSA will take a 9-8 record into the tournament. Head coach Cedric Rembert has generally been pleased

with his team’s performance this season.

“We have one team, one goal,” said Rembert, who is in his second season at Thomas Sumter. “We

need to stay locked in if we want to win a championship. We’re trying to teach them that any team is

beatable.”

The Lady Generals' starting lineup is made up of sophomore Malayia English, junior Ronia

Sanders, junior Anna Bell, sophomore Kendal Lucas and freshman Natalie Saphore.

English has been the focal point of the offense all season. She is averaging 20.5 points and leads

the team in rebounds at 6.4 and steals at 3.6.

“She was on the verge of giving up basketball when I got there,” Rembert said. “She hung in

there for me and has really developed. We’ve tried to build the team around her. Last year she came out of

her shell a little bit.

“We’ve worked with her on her right hand. She can go right, left, has a nice mid-range shot. She

plays more team ball, but she still had to believe in her teammates. She needs to trust the process and not

be rushing the process.”

Sanders is averaging 2.5 points. Bell is averaging 3.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals. Saphore

was averaging 3.4 points and Lucas 1.4 points.

Freshman Annabelle Connell has come on late in the season to become the team’s second

leading scorer and rebounder. Connell is averaging 5.8 points and 6.1 rebounds.

“We need to give Malayia a little more help,” Rembert said. “Some games we do, some games we

don’t. That’s where maturity comes in.”

And the Lady Generals still have a lot of maturing to do. TSA only has two seniors and three

juniors on its roster.

“Right now I have high expectations,” he said. “We’re a young team that’s still learning the game."