At full strength, Marlboro County boys on a roll

BENNETTSVILLE -- The Carolina Classic basketball tournament provides a showcase for local teams during the Christmas holiday.

And for Marlboro County coach James Pate, this year’s Classic provided him the opportunity to finally see his full roster in action.

With the Bulldogs’ deep playoff run in football, Pate’s team wasn’t all together until the last game before the break, going 3-2 in that stretch.

“I wasn’t too worried about it,” Pate said. “Most of these kids have played together since they were in ninth grade, so I knew they’d come together pretty quickly.”

And Pate was right.

The Bulldogs have won seven straight games after starting 2-2, including the Carolina Classic title and their first two matchups in Region 6-3A.

“That tournament really brought us together,” senior forward Trimaine Quick said. “We started playing as a team and really focused on what we had to do to win.”

With a senior-heavy team, the Bulldogs are hoping that momentum carries through the playoffs.

No I in team

A large part of Marlboro’s success has come from a well-balanced offensive attack.

The Bulldogs have a trio of players averaging double figures. Daerell Dease leads the pack with 16 points followed by Kinsman Thomas with 12 and Quick with 11.

Thomas and Quick are also averaging double-digit rebounds.

“Our kids know who our go-to guys are,” Pate said. “We just happen to have a couple of different guys we can go to depending on the situation. One might be a better outside shooter while one’s better in the post.”

“If a post player has a mismatch that’s working, we’ll stick with him,” Dease said. “If a guard is doing well, we’ll go to him. Whoever’s feeling it that night is who we go to.”

Like all good teams, the Bulldogs are stocked with role players.

“We’ve got a lot of unselfish guys who have accepted their roles,” Pate said. “Tysheim Ford and Tyrone Harrington and Curtis Swinney and all those guys have opened up a lot of things for our big guys.

“They do all the hard things, the ones that don’t show up in the stat sheets.”

New position

Dease, Quick and Thomas were receivers on the football team, and their ball-handling skills have given the Bulldogs a unique offense.

“I call them point-forwards,” Pate said. “They’re really guards, but because of their size and athleticism, they play post.”

And every one can move the ball up the floor.

“We don’t have to waste time finding the guy to get the ball upcourt,” Thomas said. “If we create a turnover or get a rebound, we can turn that into points pretty quickly.”

The Bulldogs’ athleticism has also been a key factor in matching up against bigger opponents.

“We don’t have a lot of big guys, no one over 6-foot-5,” Pate said. “But they’re so good at using their athletic ability to get rebounds that it hasn’t really been a problem.

“Daerell (5-10) averages about nine rebounds a game, and he’s not a tall guy.”

Doesn’t get any easier

Despite a 2-0 mark in region play with wins over talented Darlington and Crestwood squads, Pate knows the toughest challenges lie ahead.

“Lakewood is an up-and-coming team, Wilson’s always good and Camden is really good,” Pate said. “We’ve played well and beaten some good teams, but there’s no weak teams left on the schedule.”

And the Bulldogs are already suffering from injuries. Starters Harrington and Swinney are suffering from foot and thigh injuries, respectively, and are likely to miss 3-5 days, Pate said.

“We’re not going to make any excuses,” he said. “But that’s one of the benefits of playing some of the young guys early. We saw what they were capable of.”

“Guys have to step up,” Quick said. “That’s what we’ve done all year. That’s what it’s going to take to get us where we want to be.”