Can the Clover girls be topped? Here are 5 things to know about Tri-County basketball.
The Chester girls basketball team has won more games than it has in the last three years combined, and the top-ranked Clover girls basketball team has shown no sign of slowing down.
Here’s a breakdown of how high school basketball teams and players are faring so far in region play.
1. Clover girls basketball tops 5A
This past week, the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (SCBCA) voted Clover (15-1) the No. 1 5A team in the state. Clover’s sole loss before region play was to Dorman High School in Roebuck. In the rest of its games, the Blue Eagles have averaged 64.9 points, with an average margin of victory of just under 33 points.
The team is led by junior Aylesha Wade — a strong, fearless primary ball handler who has Division I offers from College of Charleston and UNC-Charlotte. She’s averaging 20.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, according to MaxPreps.
Junior Janelle Carter is also averaging double figures, with 11.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Mariana Ballard, a senior, is the team’s third leading scorer, who’s averaging 8.9 points and 3.7 assists per game.
Clover will be challenged come region play. Three of the other four Region III-5A teams have winning records, and they all have their unique strengths — whether it be Rock Hill High School’s quick backcourt or Nation Ford’s adept outside shooting.
2. 5A boys field is wide open
Each boys team from Region III-5A has revealed its talent and vulnerabilities in non-region play.
There’s Northwestern, a guard-heavy team with an athletic, high-flying backcourt, led by preseason top-5 senior Mason Grigg, junior AJ Thompson and senior Qua Allison. Each guard averages more than 14 points per game. The Trojans (11-4) were voted as the SCBCA’s No. 5 5A team in the state after being a top 10 team in the preseason — and, outside of a recent loss to South Pointe (a team Northwestern beat by 15 in their season-opener), they’ve largely done what they’ve been expected to do, only suffering one other loss from a South Carolina opponent.
The other primary region challenger is Clover (10-5), a team ranked No. 10 last week in the SCBCA’s 5A team rankings. The Blue Eagles have lost two games by one possession, and have split series with longtime rival, York, and Forestview.
Rock Hill High School (8-5) has also shown flashes of how good it can be in its season. The Bearcats defeated South Pointe for the first time since the 2012-13 season in early December. The Bearcats only have two seniors. Even with the lack of experience, they’ve won four out of their six games, including the past three, by one point.
Fort Mill and Nation Ford, as each of their coaches have said, are a work in progress this season. The Yellow Jackets are 8-6 after narrowly losing to South Pointe, 53-51, and River Bluff, 60-58, last week. Nation Ford is 7-9 and won three straight at the Emerald City Classic in late December.
3. The South Pointe girls can be beaten — but won’t lose often
The South Pointe girls basketball team (13-1, 0-1 region) lost last week to Ridge View, a region opponent the Stallions beat 58-24 to advance to the 4A Upper State championship game for the first time since 2007-08 last season.
But last week’s 52-50 loss could be the only one South Pointe has for a while. The Stallions, who tend to press every game, have won by less than 10 points twice this season: once against Nation Ford when senior Kelci Adams scored 24 of her team’s 47 points, and once against Rock Hill.
At the beginning of the season, head coach Stephanie Butler-Graham said one of her team’s goals was to win the region outright. Last year, the Stallions shared the title after splitting a season series with Westwood.
The Stallions eventually defeated the Redhawks in the state tournament. Will the same scenario play out again, but this time with Ridge View?
4. What can we make of Chester and Indian Land?
It’s a legitimate question — for both the boys and girls teams — and it couldn’t have been more confounding on Friday night, when the two programs faced off in Chester.
The Chester girls team (6-3, 0-1 region), which has already won more games this season than its last three seasons combined, lost to Indian Land (3-9, 1-0), who used its 1-3-1 half-court trap to cause turnovers and score fast break points.
Indian Land boys (7-4, 1-0 region) came back from a 15-point deficit to defeat Chester (5-4, 0-1 region), a team that made last season’s 3A Upper State title game.
The Chester girls will still have plenty to prove, despite its solid start. The team has a competent backcourt with Zanyiaha Sanders and Ashanti Kelly.
The outcome of the Indian Land girls season won’t be determined by its early record. Warriors’ head coach Paul Richardson said Friday night: “I think we can play with anybody if we play like that. And I’ve been telling them that all along.”
The Chester boys team has athleticism, and the Indian Land boys team is deep and relatively young with some senior leadership — and will look to ride the momentum that ensues after its inspiring start to region play.
5. Great Falls boys determined to take it all in 1A
Great Falls (13-3) didn’t play a 1A school in non-region play. The team hired head coach, Alex Fair, a week before the start of the season.. Seniors Kelton Talford, the 6-7 Winthrop basketball signee, and DJ Adams, the team’s hyper-athletic starting point guard, have only played together in a handful of games because both have had early-season injuries.
Without them, though, the team has proven to be rounded out by knockdown shooters and perimeter defenders who can fill the need in Fair’s baseline-to-baseline press.
“I’m just ready to get to region play and playoffs and do what we gotta do to get there,” Talford said after a game on Monday, Jan. 6, “to Columbia.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Can the Clover girls be topped? Here are 5 things to know about Tri-County basketball.."
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