HARTSVILLE - It was a huge night for the Hartsville varsity basketball programs at home Friday as both the girls’ and boys’ teams defeated Sumter to stay undefeated in conference play.

In each of the last three meetings with Sumter, Hartsville has needed a victory over the Gamecocks to qualify for the Class 4A Division II football playoffs.

After his team’s 56-7 loss at the hands of Sumter, West Florence football coach Trey Woodberry huddled his players and gave them some encouraging words. It’s not an easy task rebuilding a program that lost 31 seniors from last year’s campaign, including four players who signed to continue their careers at Division I college programs.

Josh Council made his final start against Wilson a memorable one. The Camden senior quarterback threw for 237 yards and five touchdowns and also ran for another score as the Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 45-29 on Thursday at Memorial Stadium.

The Hartsville Lady Foxes used 11 hits to defeat Sumter Tuesday night in girls’ prep softball action.

The Sumter Gamecocks narrowly nipped Hartsville Tuesday night in boys’ prep soccer action 1-0.

Despite the fact that temperatures dipped into the 40s Tuesday night, the Hartsville Red Foxes had hot bats as they tallied 11 hits against Sumter in varsity baseball action. The Foxes defeated the Gamecocks 9-5.

The Hartsville junior varsity soccer team played three home games recently but fell in each contest.

West Florence came into Tuesday night’s Region 6-4A matchup with Sumter knowing it would have to take the air out of the ball to have any chance to defeat a much bigger Gamecock squad. The Knights did just that and used strong defense and a fourth-quarter run pull out a 52-44 upset of the Gamecocks.

In the quarter of a century that he’s led the Conway Tigers, Chuck Jordan cannot remember how many region titles he’s won.  But it’s impossible to forget the number of state titles that he’s brought home.