Pee Dee teams go 0-for-3 in SCISA semifinals

SUMTER — For most of Thursday’s SCISA basketball Class 2A state semifinal, Pee Dee Academy coach Jerry Coleman thought his team was right where it needed to be.

Unfortunately for Pee Dee, the last part of the fourth quarter was when some of the Eagles’ bad tendencies showed up.

Trailing by just one point, Pee Dee turned the ball over nine times in the last three and half minutes as Thomas Sumter used a late run to dethrone the defending 2A champions, 38-26, at the Sumter Exhibition Center.

“That’s kind of been our M.O. all year,” Coleman said. “We shot ourselves in the foot and didn’t make the baskets when we needed to. We’re a defensive team. We held them to 38 points, but made too many mistakes at the end.”

The Eagles were fortunate the game didn’t get out of hand in the third quarter after the Generals outscored them 10-2 in the quarter.

But Pee Dee battled back in the fourth behind leading scorer Katelyn Brown, who posted five of her 15 points in the final frame. After trailing 24-16 to start the fourth, the Eagles pulled within 26-25.

“We knew we had to keep the score down and I thought we did a good of that in the first half and not a bad job in the second,” Coleman said. “We made a little run and I thought we had momentum on our side.

“But we got a steal and then had four straight turnovers, I think.”

One of the problems the Eagles faced was lack of scoring from someone other than Brown. Pee Dee’s next two leading scorers each had four points.

By contrast, Thomas Sumter had six players with five points or more.

“They do have a lot of different people who can score,” Coleman said. “It doesn’t all go through (Mikaela) Hopkins.”

But Hopkins, the Generals’ 6-foot-4 sophomore center, had her way in the beginning. She scored six points and pulled down five rebounds in the opening quarter.

The Eagles contained her the rest of the game, though, allowing her just two more points.

“I thought we had a pretty good game plan against her,” Coleman said. “We spread them out and SCISA went behind her a lot of times. She’s good, though. She’s going to put a hurt on someone in the next few years.”

Hopkins and Megan O’Neal led the Generals with eight points each.

C.C. Causey and Kelsey Dozier each had four for the Eagles, who finish the year 23-6.

Class 2A boys
First Baptist 61
The Byrnes Schools 44

A rough second quarter in which Byrnes was outscored 15-2 paved the way for First Baptist’s state semifinal win.

The Trojans were never able to recover from an 11-point halftime deficit, ending their season at 18-10.

“I thought we had a good first quarter, but then First Baptist basically took our point guard (Chad Scott) out of the game,” Byrnes coach Jeremy Smith said. “All of our set plays run through him, so it kind of took us a while to adjust to that.

“If we had made some free throws in the second quarter and kept it close, we might have had a chance.”

The Trojans missed five free throws in the second frame before rebounding by hitting seven in the third quarter. But the game was out of reach.

“I’m proud of our guys for being able to make some noise in the state playoffs,” Smith said. “This is the first time Byrnes has been in the semifinals since 1985, so it’s a great accomplishment for them.”

J Adams led Byrnes with 12 points followed by Kendall Bergman and Clay Dickson with eight apiece. Scott finished with seven.

Mike Forrester and Jarrett Kershaw led the Hurricanes with 12 each.

Class 2A girls
Bible Baptist 54
Trinity Collegiate 46

Down 37-21 entering the fourth quarter, Trinity went on a 10-0 run to get back in the game but could not overcome the deficit as the Titans fell in the state semifinals for the second straight year.

“The girls played hard and I’m proud of the way they battled back,” Trinity coach David Rector said. “We’re only losing Molly (Jones), so who knows? Maybe next year.”

Lindsey Zubel and Rebecca Leviner spurred the rally, combining for 20 points in the fourth quarter. Zubel and Leviner each finished with 14 to lead Trinity.

Bible Baptist limited Jones, the Titans’ leading scorer, to three points.

Bible Baptist’s Ariel Brown led all scorers with 32 points, most of which came in transition. Ariel Martinez added 11.