Young Dillon Girl’s basketball Team In Battle For Region Title, Deep Run In The Playoffs
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Dillon — With four games left in the 2023-24 regular season, the Dillon Lady Wildcats basketball team (13-5, 4-1) was locked in a battle to win the region title as they and foes Loris and Waccamaw all had 4-1 region records.
As the HSSR was going to press, Dillon, ranked 7th by the HSSR, had a key region home game against Loris on January 26. After that key game they have back-to-back away games against Aynor and Manning before closing out the regular season with a home game against Waccamaw. Depending on how things play-out, the Waccamaw game could be one of the biggest games of the season.
Dilon defeated Loris 47-41 earlier in the season. Waccamaw beat Dillon 50-48 on January, 19th and then Loris recently beat Waccamaw so the region has been highly competitive.
“We missed four free throws in the final minute on the road at Waccamaw, so when that happens, and you lose by two points, you feel like you could have just as easily won the game,” said veteran head coach James McMillian starting his 9th season as the head coach at Dillon. “Hopefully, when they come to our place, for the final region game of the season, we can do better at the free throw line.”
Dillon is a very young team with no seniors on the roster. They are led in scoring by talented 8th grade shooting guard Treasure Davis who started as a freshman when Dillon finished 9-9 losing out in the first round of the playoffs to eventual state champion Camden.
Davis, one of the best 8th graders in the state, is currently averaging 17.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 2.2 assists a game.
“Treasure has stepped up her game this season,” said Coach McMillian. “She has always been able to attack the basket and score inside. This season she has improved on her three=point shot. We start four guards, and the addition of freshman Khwnylahi McKinnon at the point has allowed Treasure to move around a lot on the court and find more open shots.
“We have 9 new players on our varsity and many of them have come straight from middle school to the varsity,” said Coach McMillian. “We have a couple more up from the junior varsity.”
McKinnon is averaging 12.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 3.1 assists a game. “We call McKinnon our facilitator because she distributes the ball very well,” said Coach McMillian. “She helps take a lot of defensive pressure off Treasure because she is a good shooter also.”
Junior guard Mariah Campbell is a returner to the varsity and she is averaging 10.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.5 assists a game coming into the Loris game. “Mariah is a much-improved player over last season,” said Coach McMillian. “Her ball handling has improved the most.”
The remaining starters are junior guard Ayonna Lester at 4.6 points and 6.5 rebounds a game along with junior forward Zadaiya Moody averaging g 2.3 rebounds a game.
Coach McMillian said Dillon’s post players rotate by committee. “We do not have a true post player,” he said. “Moody, at 5-8, is our inside player.”
Other members of the team include junior forward Kiasia Ford, sophomores Jiana McGill, Zynijah Pernell, Alyssa Lee, and Leah Bethea. Jaziyah Leggette and Katlin Leslie are two freshmen on the team who play guard and forward respectively.
“We are still finding our way with such a young team,” said Coach McMillian. “I beefed up our non-region schedule this season to get us ready for region competition and a strong run in the playoffs. We played teams like Conway, St. Paul’s, NC, Marion, Lee Central, Lake View, Scott’s Branch and Stall.”
The Lady Wildcats started off the season 4-0 defeating Marion twice (48-41 44-34), and Conway twice (48-37 and 46-28). They beat county rival Lake View in over-time (68-60). And they had key wins over Stall (44-43) and Scott’s Branch (44-27).
“If we learn to do a better job boxing out on the boards and limit teams to just one shot at the basket, I feel like we can have a seep run in the playoffs,” said Coach McMillian. “We are improving with every game and we just need to stay focused.”
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