WW King Knights
By: Gerald Doolittle Contributing Writer, HSSR Batesburg-Leesville, S.C. -W.W. King Academy held its Spring/Winter Athletic Banquet in mid-May to honor their 2025-26 athletic efforts. All the Knight teams were very competitive in their SCISA Class A region where they competed against Wardlaw Academy, Newberry Academy, Cambridge Academy, Richard Winn Academy and Anderson Christian . The Varsity Baseball team won the SCISA Class A Title . The Varsity Softball team was very competitive in the playoffs. Coach Jessica Anderson presented the Varsity Girls Basketball Awards . Blythe Buzhardt won the All-Around Excellence Award. Kenzie Morse won the Defensive Player-of-the-Year Award. Coach Dennis Gibson presented the Varsity Boys Basketball Awards. Spencer McCormick received the Most Outstanding Player Award. Brady Goff received the Sharp-Shooter Award. Coach Allen Guy presented the Varsity Softball Awards. Blythe Buzhardt received the Most Outstanding Player Award. Abby Aull received the Leadership Award and Kenzie Morse received the Iron Athletic Award. Coach Zach Matthews presented five awards to his Varsity Baseball State Champion players. Elijah Hutto received the Offensive Player of the Year Award. Luke Harvey received the Defensive Player of The Year Award. Wyatt Burbank, Zed Watkins and Smith Kirby shared the Team Leadership Award. Athletic Director Kathy Gibson assisted in presenting the Senior Awards. Smith Kirby and Abby Aull received the Senior Student Athlete of the Year Award. Wyatt Burbank and Kenzie Morse received the Athlete of the Year Award. Spencer McCormick and Abby Aull received the Christian Leadership Award. Wyatt Burbank and Kenzie received the Varsity Year-Round Athletes Award.
Knights Baseball Champions 2026. (Photo WW King athletics).
Pee Dee softball after 5th straight title; Laurence Manning softball, Hilton Head Christian baseball after 3 in a row.
Orangeburg Prep girls came out strong in game one of the SCISA tournament games.
By: Gerald Doolittle Batesburg-Leesville, S.C. – The W.W. King Academy Knights coached by Dennis Gibson completed their 2025-26 season with a very competitive season two seasons removed from a 23-6 season under then Coach Jonathan Davis . The 2025-26 season was a season of steady growth for the Knights. The 2024-25 season was the start of the rebuild after losing most of the 23-6 team to graduation and losing Coach Davis moving over to Greenwood Christian . Coach Gibson would come back into coaching the 2024-25 team and start the rebuild. His very young team consisting of mostly freshmen would finish a 0-16 season taking their hard defeats in stride while still developing their skills. The Knights returned in 2025-26 with the same group, plus several players who moved up from the middle school team, and focused on developing the players already in the program. That approach led to noticeable progress throughout the season and culminated in a Region Tournament runner-up finish to Newberry Academy . During the regular season, the Knights split their two games with Cambridge Academy , which went on to claim the Regular Season Region Championship. When the teams met again in the Region Tournament semi-finals, W.W. King delivered one of its strongest performances of the season, defeating Cambridge Academy 65-29 to advance to the title game against Newberry. Coach Gibson said the season reflected the players’ willingness to stay together and put in the hard work. “This season shows what can happen when players stay committed and keep working,” said Gibson. “Our guys come from families that value determination and dedication, and we have been fortunate to have strong leadership from senior captain Spencer McCormick. Our starting five spent a lot of time with individual workouts last spring and summer, and it made a difference. I am grateful for this group and proud of the way the entire team has represented our school.” While the Knights did not finish with a championship, their progress from last season to this one was clear. The team became more competitive, more confident, and more consistent over the course of the year to finish 9-10. For Wyman King Academy, the 2025-26 season stands as an example of how patience, continuity, and effort can lead to meaningful improvement, on the scoreboard, within a program, and in life. The Knight roster included seniors Wyatt Burbank and Spencer McCormick. Landell Anderson was the only junior . The several sophomores were Bubba Buzhardt, Whitaker Graham, Joseph Morse, Colby Buzhardt, Joey Bradley, Tucker Mayyou and Joshua Oswald. The five freshmen were Tucker McGinty, Drayton Wannamaker, Brady Goff, Jackson Hutto and Jaydan Deese.
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).