Lake City pulls away from Hartsville in Classic

FLORENCE — Lake City coach Willie Thomas said his players’ worst enemy is themselves.

At times Tuesday, Thomas’ assessment was correct. The Panthers, however, righted the ship and pulled away to a 72-57 win over Hartsville in the second round of the Carolina Classic boys basketball tournament at West Florence High School.

“We’re not ready to start games off with energy right now. We’re talented, but we’re young,” Thomas said. “That’s what this tournament is for, and hopefully, it will get us ready for (Region 7-3A) play.”

From the opening tip, Hartsville surprised the Tigers with its hustle. The youthful Red Foxes were faster to almost every loose ball. Lake City, however, strung together enough offense to take a 19-18 advantage into the second quarter.

The Panthers asserted themselves and took control of the game in the second. Using pressure defense and the shooting of Dashawn Butler, Lake City went into the locker room with a 41-32 lead.

“(Hartsville) came out with more energy than we did at the beginning,” Thomas said. “The emotion went out (for them) in the second, and the skill took over (for us).”

“I’m accustomed to having depth, but we don’t have that right now,” Hartsville coach Aric Samuel said. “We had to play our starting five longer than I wanted to, and we got worn down.”

Butler nailed four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points to lead Lake City, who will face defending champion Marlboro County tonight at 7:30. Corey Baker followed with 15 points, and Dominic Wilson posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“I think we can be a hard team to defend,” Thomas said. “If you try to defend the perimeter, we can pound it inside.

“We’ve got four or five guys that can shoot the ball, and three or four more that can clean up inside.”

Just as it seemed Lake City was leaving the door open for a Hartsville comeback, the Red Foxes hurt themselves with self-inflicted miscues the Panthers turned into crucial baskets.

“We’re fairly inexperienced in games of this magnitude. We either have a big turnover or a missed layup that hurts us.

“Lake City’s a good team, and they’ll make you look bad in some places. They set the tone after the first quarter.”

Wilson 41
South Florence 39

The first two meetings between the Tigers and Bruins needed an extra period to decide the outcome.

In the third meeting, Wilson successfully avoided overtime thanks to 14 points from Jared Charles and nine from Maliek McCall as the Tigers move on to face Mullins at 5:45 tonight.

South Florence coach David Alexander had a simple explanation for his squad’s struggles in close games.

“We’re averaging about 25 turnovers a game right now,” he said. “We’re playing great defense, but we’re turning the ball over way too much.

“I’ve got good shooters, but they only took about four or five shots (against Wilson). It’s hard to get into a rhythm when you’re not getting the ball.”

Tyshawn McCollum scored 11 points to lead South Florence, who will play Hemingway today at 2:15 p.m. Cederick Fleming followed with 10 points.

Mullins 56, Hemingway 55

After dispatching of Region 8-2A rival Dillon on Monday, Mullins had a much tougher test against the Tigers.

Trailing by one point, Tyree Constant hit two free throws with .5 seconds to go as the Auctioneers moved one step closer to playing for the tournament title.

Bobby Crawford and Jonathan Jenkins combined for 27 points to lead Mullins. Quinton Brown led Hemingway with a game-high 17 points, and Jazjuan Wilson added nine.

Marlboro County 49, Lugoff-Elgin 44

Down three points with nine seconds to go, JoJo Pellegrino missed a game-tying 3-point attempt.

Malik Ford corralled the rebound and sank two free throws to ice the contest and move the Bulldogs into the tournament semifinals.

Lorenzo Baldwin posted a double-double (16 points, 14 rebounds) to lead Marlboro County, and Naquan Williams added 10.

Shaq Elm and Darius Custard led the Demons, respectively, with 15 and seven points.

Dillon 54, West Florence 45

Jakell Whittington and AnTuawn Blue posted 18 and 10 points, respectively, to lead the Wildcats past host West Florence.

Tyshawn McDuffie was the Knights’ lone scorer in double figures with 18 points.

Timmonsville 56, Florence Christian 25

Antonio Fulton led three players in double figures with 21 points as the Whirlwinds bounced back from a blowout loss to Wilson on Monday and routed the Eagles.

Kendrick Graham and Deonte Scott each added 11 points for Timmonsville. Kentell Davis paced Florence Christian with 10 points.