By: Gerald Doolittle Batesburg-Leesville, S.C. – W.W. King Academy closed the 2024-25 school year with their annual athletic banquet where the coaches presented their awards to the student-athletes. Coach Jessica Anderson presented the Varsity Girls Basketball awards. Kenzie Morse (jr) received the Most Valuable Player award . She also made the All-Region team. Milana Beale received the Iron Will Award . Coach Dennis Gibson presented the Varsity Boys Basketball awards. Spencer McCormick (jr) received the Most Dependable Award and Joseph Morse (fr) received the Most Improved Award . Coach Allen Guy and Assistant Coach Doug Massey presented the Varsity Softball awards to the SCISA Class A runners-up. Claire Massey received the Most Valuable Player Award . She also made the All-Region team and played in the North-South All-Star game . Zoey Livingston (so) received the Offensive Player of the Year award . She also was the Region Player of the Year and played in the North-South All-Star game. Emma Enlow (7 th ) received Defensive Player of the Year award. She also played in the North-South All-Star game. Blythe Buzhardt (7 th ) received the Rookie of the Year award . She also played in the North-South All-Star game. Abby Aull (jr) received the Most Improved Award. Coach Allen Guy was named the Region Coach of the Year . He and assistant coach Doug Massey coached the North team in the All-Star game. Coach Brian Kneece presented the Varsity Baseball awards. Tucker McGinty (8 th ) received the Offensive Player of the Year Award . He also made the All-Region team and played in the North-South All-Star game. Colton Buzhardt (sr) received the Leadership Award . Elijah Hutto (so) received the Pitcher of the Year Award . He along with Casen Buzhardt (so) made the All-Region team and played the North/South All-star team. The 2024-25 Senior Awards went to Colton Buzhardt (Male Athlete of the Year), Claire Massey (Female Athlete of the Year), Colton Buzhardt (Male Student Athlete of the Year), Faith Black (Female Student Athlete of the Year), Kevin Crapps (Male Christian Leadership Award) and Faith Black (Female Christian Leadership Award).

BY: GERALD DOOLITTLE Contributing Writer Batesburg-Leesville, S.C. – The W.W. King Academy Knights coached by Brian Kneece heads into Spring break with an 5-4 overall record. The Knights still have regular season games left with Greenwood Christian, Ridge Spring-Monetta and Wardlaw Academy. After the regular season games SCISA Region 3-A will have a Region tournament at Richard Winn on 4/21 and at W.W. King on 4/22. With a win over Wardlaw Academy to close the regular season the Knights will have a 4-2 region record which will give them second place behind Richard Winn Academy. The Knights offense has been sparked by Casen Buzhardt (so), Elijah Hutto (so), Joshua Oswald (fr) and Greyson Rikard (fr). These four are followed by Colton Buzhardt (sr) and Zed Watkins (jr). Casen leads with a batting average of .393 and 8 RBIs. And 10 runs scored. Hutto has a batting average of .375, 4 RBIs and 14 runs scored. Oswald has a batting average of .375, 4 RBIs and 8 runs scored. Rikard has a batting average of .375, 8 RBIs and 5 runs scored. Rikard also has 2 home runs. Landen Anderson (so) has four hits that has resulted in 9 RBIs. One of those hits was a home run. Leading the base running stats is Hutto with 14 stolen bases followed by Colton Buzhardt with 6 stolen bases. Oswald follows with 5 and Casen with 4.  Hutto leads the pitching staff with 28 Ks followed by Colton and Casen Buzhardt with 17 each.

W.W. KING GIRLS REBUILD PROGRESSING By: Gerald Doolittle Contributing Writer Batesburg-Leesville, S.C. - The 2024-25 Girls basketball season at W.W. King Academy has been a season of foundation building for the Lady Knights program. After not having a varsity program last year Coach Jessica Anderson was called upon to get the rebuild started. She started the season with six girls on the roster that included McKenzie Wannamaker (sr), Kenzie Morse (jr), Milana Beale (so), Zoey Livingston (so), Emily Manley (fr) and Grace Black (fr). However, the Lady Knights played much of the season with only five players. Without a bench the Lady Knights struggled to a 1-8 season. But the good news is that the future of the program looks good as the middle school team were region Co-Champions with Richard Winn Academy with a 12-1 record. The middle school team was also coached by Anderson. This team roster included Alivia Anderson (8 th ), Blythe Buzhardt (7 th ), Lilly Claire Matthews (7 th ), Aiden Amick (7 th ), Rebecca Hinton (7 th ), Emma Enlow (7 th ), Emma Buzhardt (6 th ), Sarah Pickens (6 th ), Allie Grace Oxner (6 th ), Emoree Shealy (6 th ) and Lynnlee Watkins (6 th ). Coach Anderson hopes to keep this group of young ladies together as they progress through their high school years. She feels with playing time these girls will be a very competitive team.

By: Gerald Doolittle Contributing Writer Batesburg - Leesville, S.C. – The 2024-25 basketball season at W.W. King Academy will be another season of rebuilding both Girls and Boys varsity basketball. Last season W.W. King did not have a varsity girls team because there was not enough participation from the upper grades to have a team. This year the program gets a new start with Jessica Anderson filling the coaching slot. Coach Anderson is restarting the program with six girls. McKenzie Wannamaker is the only senior on the roster. Kenzie Morse is the only junior. The two sophomores are Milana Beale and Zoey Livingston . The two freshmen are Emily Manley and Grace Black .  The Lady Knights will enter the new year with a 0-1 record. They dropped their season opener to Pelion High School . Dennis Gibson is coming out of retirement to coach the varsity boys team. He will have a young roster loaded with freshmen and sophomores. He will have Spencer McCormick (jr) and Wyatt Burbank (jr) as the experience leaders along with sophomores Colton Black, Elijah Hutto, Landell Anderson and Jacob Clamp. Coach Gibson sees a bright future for the program in the eight freshmen coming up from the middle school program where they had a winning record under Scott Buzhardt . The freshmen players are Jonathon Chapman, Bubba Buzhardt, Joey Bradley, Kai Hoover , Joseph Morse, Colby Buzhardt, Bryson Burnett and Joshua Oswald . The youngest player on the Knights roster is Tucker McGinty (8th) who is a star in the making. The Knights so far in the 2024-25 season have loss three games to Anderson Christian , Cambridge and Pelion High School. Coach Gibson hopes to have a competitive team as his players mature with more playing time.