DUNCAN, SC - The Boiling Springs wrestling team went to work at the Region II-5A tournament early on Saturday morning and by the time the tournament had ended they walked away as the winners with a couple of region championship medals around their necks..
Boiling Springs came away with the victory at the region tournament with a score of 224 which was thirty-four points ahead of second place Dorman who finished with a score of 190. The rest of the order was Byrnes in third place, Gaffney in fourth place and Spartanburg in fifth place. "The wrestling program had a great day today winning both the varsity and JV portion of the region tournament," said Bulldogs head coach Lee Thomas. "It was nice to avenge the team's loss earlier on in the season against Dorman and also nice to see some individuals avenge some early losses they had as well. We hope to use the momentum that this tournament can sometimes provide as we head into the playoffs next Saturday." The Bulldogs earned their first victory in the first championship match of the day as Peyton Hornack who defeated Dorman's Peyton Riddle in the 106lbs division. Harrison Bradford gave the Bulldogs another region championship at the 145lbs division after he defeated Dorman's McCoy Taylor. Boiling Springs got a region championship in the 182lbs division when Jacob Dawkins defeated Dorman's Hallston McKenzie. In the final match of the tournament the Bulldogs got their fourth region championship of the tournament when Jason Blackwell defeated Dorman's Nahjay Fowler in the championship match of the 285lbs division. Trent Coppola finished runner-up in the 132lbs division after falling in the championship match to Gaffney's Mike Mabry. Triston Ellison also picked up a runner-up finish for the Bulldogs after falling to Owen Hendricks of Dorman in the 152lbs division. The Bulldogs also got runner-up finishes in the 160lbs and 170lbs divisions as Xavier Goodman fell to Byrnes' Asher Fink and JoJo Barrett fell to Dorman's Terrell Edwards in the championship matches of their respective divisions. Jacob Hill fell to Gaffney's Treshun Tate in the championship match of the 220lbs division for their fifth runner-up finish of the day. Luke Hillers won a consolation championship in the 113lbs division as he defeated Spartanburg's Landon Vlau. Ayden Whisler (120) and Rylee Douglas (126) also came away with consolation championships in their respective weight divisions. Boiling Springs also got a consolation championship in the 195lbs division when he defeated Spartanburg's Robert Weathers. Other region champions on Saturday were Byrnes' Hampton Higdon (113), Gaffney's Aaron Wilburn (120), Byrnes' Connor Beaudin (126), Gaffney's Mike Mabry (132), Byrnes' Noah Simpson (138), Dorman's Owen Hendricks (152), Byrnes' Asher Fink (160), Dorman's Terrell Edwards (170), Dorman's Malaikyl McKenna (195), and Gaffney's Treshun Tate (220). The Boiling Springs JV team also won the junior varsity tournament as well with a score of 191.5 finishing ahead of second place Spartanburg who had a score of 124 followed by Dorman, Byrnes, and Gaffney. The next event for the Bulldogs will be on February 4th for the first and second rounds of the 5A playoffs at TL Hanna, where they will face Rock Hill and if they win will possibly face TL Hanna in the second round. BOILING SPRINGS, SC - After taking Dorman to the wire on the road in their last matchup, the Boiling Springs boys' basketball team came in with high hopes and played the Cavaliers close but a big first quarter was the difference in the Cavaliers 68-56 victory as the Bulldogs were runners-up once again in the matchup on Friday night.
Dorman started the game on a 14-0 run before Boiling Springs got their first basket, a three-pointer by Landon Sprouse, as the Cavaliers raced out to a 20-7 first quarter lead. "I think our kids played hard and did what we wanted them to," said Bulldogs head coach Craig Martin. "When it came down to it we just didn't do a good job of putting the ball in the basket and we had too many turnovers. Against a skilled team like Dorman you just had to do better than we did tonight because some of the reasons we're missing shots is because of how well Dorman is doing their job defensively." In the second quarter the Bulldogs started fighting back though, hoping to steal the crown from Dorman as the top team in the region, as they outscored the Cavaliers 19-16 in the quarter to cut the lead to ten points at halftime. The Bulldogs slowly ate into the lead narrowing the Cavaliers lead to seven in the third quarter and eventually down to five points midway through the fourth quarter on back-to-back free throws from Reese Walter to make the Dorman lead 49-44. The five-point difference was as close as the Bulldogs would get a few times in the fourth quarter as Dominique Johnson on a layup made the score 51-46 with just over four minutes to go in the game. From that point, Dorman went on a 6-0 run to push their lead back to eleven points at 57-46 but the Bulldogs battled back once again as Tre Locklear hit a layup just inside the two-minute mark to cut the lead to 58-53. With some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch the Cavaliers outscored the Bulldogs 10-3 to come away with the 68-56 victory. Dominique Johnson led the Bulldogs finishing with a double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Tre Locklear finished the game with 16 points and three steals while Landon Sprouse finished the game with 12 points. Sean Lindsay and Terry Leonard led the Cavaliers as both players scored 17 points each while Jordan Miller added 10 points of his own. Boiling Springs will return to region play on Tuesday night in a road matchup against Byrnes, who the Bulldogs fell to on a buzzer beater just a few weeks ago. "If we play as hard as we have been doing against some of these teams I think we'll be fine in the rest of our upcoming games," said Martin. "It's just a matter of putting it all together with the effort and execution. We just have to do a better job of having a complete game each night out." GIRLS GAME - DORMAN 64 BOILING SPRINGS 21 A big first half helped Dorman get out to an early lead over Boiling Springs on their way to a 64-21 victory on Friday night. Boiling Springs struggled to find a basket early in the game as Dorman outscored them 34-5 in the first half. While the Bulldogs were able to get some offense going in the second half, the first half deficit was too much to overcome. Bulldogs senior Amiah Ellis led the Bulldogs with 13 points while Olivia Shirley led the Bulldogs in rebounds with eight. Nakiyah Kelly led Dorman on Friday night as she finished the game with a double-double scoring 13 points along with 15 rebounds. BOILING SPRINGS, SC - For Boiling Springs basketball fans it doesn't seem that long ago that Zach Baldinelli was scoring his 1,000th career point for the Bulldogs program, in fact the four-year anniversary of that mark just passed by, but four years later he now sits as the lead assistant for the boys' basketball program and the school's liaison to the youth leagues.
While the ascension to being an assistant basketball coach for a 5A program may seem like a quick one to some people, if you've ever met Baldinelli, you know this is something he has been working towards since his high school playing days. "This place is home and the second I took off my jersey at Limestone I knew exactly where I wanted to be to start my coaching career," said Baldinelli. "When I made the choice to get into coaching, I wanted to come back here and do things that have never been done before at this school on the basketball court. For me to get that opportunity from Mr. McQuigg, Coach Moxie, and our new basketball coach Coach Martin it's just everything I dreamed of and I'm overly excited about being back." He said that the opportunity to get to give back to the program that built him into the player he became and to now help do that same thing for the next generation of Bulldogs is special to him. "It's fantastic to get to work with this group of kids every day and I hope they all skyrocket past the accomplishments that I made when I was here," said Baldinelli. "I was once these guys looking to play for the varsity team and winning region and state championships. I hope that I can just help them a little bit to accomplish those goals that they have set for themselves as players and as a team." With some situations of having a first-year head coach coming in, some coaches wouldn't be very receptive of having a young coach with a desire to build a program on their staff, but Baldinelli said that Coach Martin has been nothing but welcoming and encouraging to him. "Coach Martin is the best person to work for and it's just hard to explain why," said Baldinelli. "He has been nothing but receptive of the things I want to do. From the second I've been here he has never made me feel like an assistant coach but the other head coach because he lets me be me. The trust and belief he places in me motivates me every day. The way this started he wasn't able to get here until the summer so he essentially entrusted me to coach the team this spring and the early part of the summer, basically trusting me to lay the foundation of what he wants to accomplish. As a 22-year-old that means a lot to me. I would never want to work for anyone else because we go together so well. I can't wait for the people in the community to get to meet Coach Martin and find out how much he cares about the community and this team." Baldinelli isn't the only familiar face that will be assisting the Bulldogs coaching staff this year and he has been a key part in getting old players back to help with the program. "For me it's about tradition and one of the first guys we were able to get back was Mikail Coleman, who is here on staff as well," said Baldinelli. "I started a Facebook group for our old players from the past so that the former Bulldogs know everything we're doing and have an open invite to come back to be a part of anything we're doing. We now have alumni coming back to be part of practices which is huge that our guys get to know those guys, guys like Wally Mathis, Jay Free, Mason Sanders, and all the legends that came before them. It gives them people to aspire to be and shows them there are people that care about their success and the success of the program." He says that the interaction that they have seen from former players with the team so far in practices has been unreal. "The alumni we've had back so far at practice so far have been very interactive," said Baldinelli. "After every practice we have those guys speak to the team and they always give fantastic advice to the guys and the team in general. We want to keep getting more alumni around. Our alumni and kids need to have relationships because it's what good programs do and it's part of building that tradition." Just working with the basketball program and the alumni base hasn't been his only position this year as he has also been tasked with working with local youth leagues to get them more involved with the high school and working on getting young players used to what the expectations will be as future Bulldogs. "It has been great working with the youth leagues," said Baldinelli. "As far as youth football we had kids playing up here three to four nights a week and now we're going to have youth basketball playing here this winter, for what I think is the first time ever. We're also going to have clinics every Saturday for all the youth for free in Boiling Springs to get hands on instruction from the coaching staff which we're hoping will just build our youth programs and high school programs into the future." The hard work that Baldinelli is putting in comes from the love for this community has been built on the relationships he started from a young kid and kept building on through his playing career. "The big thing for me is Boiling Springs is home and somewhere becomes home through the relationships you build there," said Baldinelli. "The relationships I've built here is everything. From the administration to meeting my best friends here or as a kid watching the guys play I looked up to like Mason Sanders along with Jared and Jordan Wallace. Or as a freshman first putting that jersey on beside players like Josh Ellmore and Kyle Littlejohn who were great players. I feel like this community is one big family and I'm blessed to have been a part of it since I was a kid and now giving back as a coach." BOILING SPRINGS, SC - After so many close losses this season and on the nine year anniversary of one of the program's toughest losses, the Boiling Springs basketball team came up with a huge 62-59 win over the #7 ranked Yellow Jackets.
After being within one point of #1 Dorman late in the game earlier this season and losing defeated on a buzzer beater by #5 Byrnes, at the time, it was a huge relief for the Bulldogs to finally get that big win but they know they still have a lot ahead of them this season. "I was telling the kids in the locker room that if I lived anywhere around Boiling Springs and wasn't coaching, I'd come to all of our games because it seems every game comes down to a last possession," said Bulldogs head coach Craig Martin. "It's big games with a great environment. TL Hanna is a well-coached team, and I knew going into it we'd be challenged, and they came ready to play. We're happy to be finally leaving one of these games with a win." After going shot for shot early in the first quarter to a 5-5 tie, TL Hanna went on a 12-2 run to take a a 17-7 lead over the Bulldogs. With an early pivotal moment in the game though, the Bulldogs fought back to close the TL Hanna lead to 19-12 when the buzzer sounded. Boiling Springs used their momentum from the end of the first quarter to start the quarter on an 11-3 run that was capitalized with a three-pointer from Jeremiah Favorite to give the Bulldogs a 23-22 lead, their first lead since leading 5-3 in the first quarter. Both teams exchanged baskets back-and-forth through the rest of the quarter as the Yellow Jackets held onto a 31-30 lead when the halftime buzzer echoed through the gym. Each team started the team shooting the ball well as Tre Locklear gave the Bulldogs a lead at 34-33 before falling behind only to have Landon Sprouse hit another shot to retake the lead at 36-35 off an assist from Locklear. The Bulldogs held a one-point lead with time running down in the quarter when Favorite hit a two-handed shot from half-court that fell through the net as the lights behind the backboard went off to give Boiling Springs a 46-42 lead. Coach Martin said Favorite, who was coming off the bench and had some key baskets for the Bulldogs down the stretch, had been working hard on his shot so he wasn't surprised in his effort on Tuesday night. "Jeremiah is a tough, hard-nosed kid that really gets after it every game," said Martin. "He has been working hard in the gym on his shot and it's good to see it pay off for him tonight. He works in the gym before school and after school along with weekends and you can see his work paying off. It was big for him as a freshman to come off the bench and do what he did tonight." TL Hanna started the fourth quarter on a 12-5 run to take a 54-51 lead over the Bulldogs and it seemed that the Bulldogs may be having bad luck happen to them again but they weren't done yet. Favorite started the Bulldogs rebound as he drove to the basket for a hard-fought layup that also gave him a foul shot that he made to tie the game at 54-54. Dominique Johnson gave the Bulldogs the lead back at 56-54, hitting both sides of a one-and-one. Landon Sprouse made the Bulldogs lead 58-56 on a shot down the middle before Favorite hit two free-throws to put the lead at 60-56. TL Hanna's Jovelyn Martin hit a big three-pointer to close the Bulldogs lead to 60-59 with less than a minute to play. With time running down, TL Hanna had a chance to take the lead but Bulldogs senior London Hogan stepped up to take a charge, his fifth of the game to give Boiling Springs the ball back. "London is a kid that is always there and in the right position," said Martin. "He took the big charge at the end of the game and grabbed some big rebounds for us. He is essential for our success as a team." Favorite hit two more free throws to give the Bulldogs a 62-59 lead with twenty-nine seconds left. With six seconds left TL Hanna had one last chance to tie the game but the Boiling Springs defense held strong knocking a missed shot out of bounds as time expired to seal the victory. Boiling Springs was led in scoring by Landon Sprouse who had 22 points while being joined in double figures by Tre Locklear with 17 points and Jeremiah Favorite with 15 points. "The better Tre and Landon play, the better we play as a team," said Martin. "Tre has been doing his thing all year and Sprouse has really picked up his game recently. Sprouse playing well takes the defense's focus off of Tre and allows him more opportunities. Tre didn't leave the court and really led us but there were also times in the game that Sprouse carried our offense, especially in the first half." Anthony Edwards led TL Hanna with 24 points while Jaquarias Patterson had 16 points and Adarius Armstrong with 15 points. Boiling Springs will return to action on Friday night when they host another ranked opponent as #1 Dorman will travel to face the Bulldogs. GIRLS GAME - TL HANNA 70 BOILING SPRINGS 25 TL Hanna used a big second half performance from their defense to outscore the Bulldogs on their way to a 70-25 victory on Tuesday night. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Bulldogs 48-11 in the second half after leading 22-14 at the half. Boiling Springs was led in scoring by Kylie McMillian who had 11 points and six rebounds while Sarah Ezell led the Bulldogs on the boards with 11 rebounds to go along with her eight points. SPARTANBURG, SC - The Boiling Springs boys' basketball team for the second straight Friday night in a row had a big region matchup go the wrong way on a last second play as they fell to Spartanburg 56-55 on Friday night.
Last week the Bulldogs fell to Byrnes on a buzzer beating three-pointer and this week they had a last second shot of their own get deflected to come up just short once again. With less than two minutes to go in the game the Bulldogs and Vikings were tied at 48-48 before J'Bari Miller and Dyllan Harris hit back-to-back three-pointers for Spartanburg to put them ahead 54-48 and seemingly out of reach but the Bulldogs weren't done just yet. After Tre Locklear and Reese Walter went four of four at the free throw line and Spartanburg's J'Bari Miller hit two free throws of his own, the Bulldogs were trailing 56-52 with less than seventeen seconds left in the game. On the next play, Spartanburg missed the front end of a one-and-one before the Bulldogs London Hogan grabbed the rebound, one of his 15 rebounds in the game, and found Tre Locklear for a three-pointer to cut the Vikings lead to 56-55 with seven seconds left in the game. The Bulldogs immediately fouled the Vikings sending them into another one-and-one situation. The Vikings missed the front end of the one-and-one for a second straight time and the Bulldogs Dominique Johnson ran down the rebound before passing up court to Tre Locklear who attempted a shot just inside the half court line that was deflected by Spartanburg's J'Bari Miller to help seal the victory for the Vikings and give the Bulldogs another close loss for the second straight week. The game prior to the fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair as the Vikings jumped out to a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter before extending that lead to 33-25 at halftime. Boiling Springs had a big third quarter to cut into the Vikings lead outscoring them 13-7 to make it a two-point game heading into the final quarter of play. Landon Sprouse led the way for Boiling Springs with 14 points to go along with four rebounds while being joined in double figure points by Tre Locklear (13) and WJ Fowler (10). Reese Walter finished just short of double figures with nine points in the game on Friday night. J'Bari Miller led the Vikings and all scorers in the game with 23 points as he was the only Spartanburg player in double figures scoring on Friday night. The Vikings had three other players all finish the night with nine points. Boiling Springs will look to bounce back on Tuesday as they host an out-of-region contest against TL Hanna before hosting Dorman on Friday night to start the second half of region play. GIRLS GAME - SPARTANBURG 60 BOILING SPRINGS 50 The Spartanburg Vikings girls' basketball team used a 19-0 run to finish the game and come away with a 60-50 victory over the visiting Boiling Springs girls' basketball team on Friday night. The Vikings took an early 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter but a huge second quarter changed the tide for the Bulldogs as they outscored Spartanburg 26-13 to take a 37-28 halftime lead. Boiling Springs's big second quarter performance was capped off by a three-pointer from Amiah Ellis that went through the net as the halftime buzzer sounded throughout the gym. In almost deja-vu fashion, Spartanburg's Kailyn Smith hit a three-pointer from almost the same spot as Ellis in the previous quarter to cut the Boiling Springs lead from nine points to six at 50-44 to start the final quarter. The shot was also the start of the Vikings 19-point run, as they outscored the Bulldogs 16-0 in the final quarter of play to seal the victory. Kylie McMillian led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17 points, seven rebounds, and five steals. She was joined in double figures by Amiah Ellis who had 15 points and Sarah Ezell who finished with a double-double scoring 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Kaily Smith led Spartanburg and all scorers with 18 points while being joined in double figures by teammates Kam Sainvil (15) and Genesis Young (11). BOILING SPRINGS, SC - After a tough opening week of region play against two top-ten teams in 5A last week, the Boiling Springs boys' basketball team started their second week of region play with a 67-55 victory over Gaffney on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs used two big runs in the first and fourth quarters to help seal their victory and overcome a hot shooting Gaffney team in the first matchup between the two teams this season. "After a tough week last week against Dorman and Byrnes, it didn't get any easier with Gaffney tonight as they came in here well prepared, but it was nice to get the win," said Bulldogs head coach Craig Martin. "With this region there isn't ever a night off because every night you have to come ready to play because if you don't, you'll end up on the losing side." Boiling Springs jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind baskets from Isaiah Atkins and Landon Sprouse before Gaffney's Kaleb Phillips and Jordan Mathis hit two three-pointers to narrow the Bulldogs lead to 8-6. The Bulldogs ended the quarter on an 11-3 run behind three-pointers from Sprouse and WJ Fowler along with a basket from Tre Locklear off a steal. The Bulldogs were able to get a lot of second chances as senior London Hogan led Boiling Springs presence around the rim with six rebounds in the quarter, as he ended the game with four points, 11 rebounds, and three charges taken. Coach Martin says the things that Hogan does on the court may not always show up in the scorebook but when he's not on the court you notice his lack of presence. "Every game he's out there you just feel so much better about your chances to win," said Martin. "He's a solid defender and does a lot of the little things that you don't always see in the scorebook but without them you notice that he's not there. He's that glue guy that you need to be successful." Gaffney outscored the Bulldogs 22-18 in the second quarter to narrow the Boiling Springs halftime left to six points at 37-31 over the Indians. They were able to narrow the Bulldogs lead to five points at the end of the third quarter at 50-45. Dominique Johnson scored the first basket of the fourth quarter for the Bulldogs to push the lead to 52-45 but back-to-back three-pointers from Gaffney's Dylan Riddlespurger and Judd Price cut the Bulldogs lead to 52-51 around the six-minute mark of the game. At that point it became all Bulldogs as they outscored the Indians 15-4 from that point of the game until the end. Dominique Johnson was a key part of the run as he scored eight of the team's points during the run which was also aided by baskets from Tre Locklear, Landon Sprouse, and Reese Walter. "When Dom is engaged and focused on what we need him to do, he is such a fun player to watch play the game," said Martin. "Like most high school kids, he has his moments of being zoned out but he's one of the best about getting back focused quickly and is so instrumental in the success of our team." Landon Sprouse led the Bulldogs with 17 points and also had a key steal late in the game to help seal the game for Boiling Springs. He was joined in double figures by Dominique Johnson who had 16 points and WJ Fowler who added 11 points of his own. "When Landon play wells, we play well," said Martin. "He done a good job of making some adjustments early in the game. Instead of worrying about the last play he does a good job of moving on to the next play. He's doing a good job of playing to his strengths." Markell Hollis led Gaffney with 16 points and he was joined in double figures by teammate Dylan Riddlespurger who added 12 points of his own. Boiling Springs will wrap up their first trip through region play on Friday night when they travel to Spartanburg. GIRLS GAME - GAFFNEY 75 BOILING SPRINGS 49 The Boiling Springs girls' basketball team battled Gaffney tooth and nail early in the game before eventually falling to the Indians 75-49 on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs only trailed by eight points at halftime by a score of 35-27 as Gaffney outscored Boiling Springs 24-21 in the second quarter. The second half was the big difference maker for the Indians as they outscored the Bulldogs 40-22. Sarah Ezell led the Bulldogs with a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Kylie McMillian joined her in double figures with 16 points, five steals, and four assists. Moriah Little had a double-double for Gaffney with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Shyrique Parker led the Indians with 20 points and Shiriah Harris added 17 points of her own. SPARTANBURG, SC - On Saturday morning the best wrestlers in Spartanburg County converged onto the campus of Spartanburg High School to determine this year's best wrestlers and by Saturday afternoon 14 individual champions had been named along with a team champion and runner-up.
In the team competition, the Dorman Cavaliers won the Spartanburg County championship with a score of 185.5. They finished just ahead of runner-up Boiling Springs, who finished the tournament with a score of 156. Byrnes (143.5) finished in third place while Chesnee was the highest finishing non-5A school with a fourth-place finish. The rest of the finishers in order were Woodruff, High Point Academy, Broome, Chapman, Spartanburg, and Landrum. After a long day of wrestling that started around 9:30 AM, the finals matches began almost five hours later with the championship match at the 106lbs weight class where Peyton Hornack came away with the county championship for Boiling Springs. Hornack wouldn't be the last Boiling Springs wrestler to win an individual championship as Jacob Hill also won an individual title at 220lbs. In addition to the two county champions, the Bulldogs had four runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes. Ayden Whisler was runner-up for the Bulldogs at 126lbs while Harrison Grice was runner-up at 152lbs. Xavier Goodman came away with a runner-up finish at 160lbs as JoJo Barrett added another runner-up finish at 170lbs. Tyrell Nesbitt came away with consolation championship at 195lbs while Jason Blackwell also won the consolation championship at heavyweight. Chesnee's Garrett Williams (182) won the county championship for the Eagles while teammate Thadeus Gerstenacker also won the county championship at 138lbs. The Eagles had three more wrestlers with either second or third place finishes as Nicholas Hofer was runner-up at the 195lbs weight class. Quinton Gerstenacker won the consolation championship at 132lbs while teammate Gunther Gerstenacker won the consolation championship at 160lbs giving the Eagles two third-place finishes. Chapman sophomore Sylas Woodard won the county championship at 120lbs giving the Panthers their only podium finisher on the tournament. High Point Academy's Lukas Crosby won the county championship at 145lbs for the best finish by a Grizzly at the county championship on Saturday. Other county champions on Saturday were Higdon (Byrnes, 113lbs), Beavdin (Byrnes, 126lbs), Mulak (Woodruff, 132lbs), Hendricks (Dorman, 152lbs), Fink (Byrnes, 160lbs), Edwards (Dorman, 170lbs), McKenna (Dorman, 195lbs), and Stubbs (Woodruff, Heavyweight). BOILING SPRINGS, SC - With just seven seconds left in the game it looked like the Boiling Springs basketball team was going to get a big upset of Byrnes, but with just under two seconds left in the game Kayzzin McDowell hit a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Rebels a 54-52 victory over the Bulldogs on Friday night.
The game was the second straight game in a row that the Bulldogs came up just short of an upset victory over a top-five team in the 5A ranks. "It was a good game and I'm sure everyone was excited watching that one tonight," said Bulldogs head coach Craig Martin. "Our kids are doing what we ask of them as they're fighting and competing in each game while working together. I blame the game tonight on myself as the effort was there from the guys but I think the execution was on me but we'll improve on that and get better because that's all we can do." In the first quarter both teams were tied at 9-9 before the Rebels went on a 12-4 run to grab a 22-13 lead at the end of the quarter. Byrnes kept the nine-point advantage throughout the second quarter to hold a 32-23 halftime lead. Byrnes started the second half on a 5-0 run behind baskets from Evan Enos and Kade Caton to take a 37-23 lead over the Bulldogs just seconds into the third quarter. At that point the Bulldogs started to make their run at the Rebels starting with a three-pointer from Landon Sprouse. Sprouse's basket started the Bulldogs on a 10-0 run that included five points from Dominique Johnson, who had to sit out a majority of the first half after getting into early foul trouble, as the Bulldogs cut the Rebels lead to 37-33. "You could see the difference when we were able to have Dom in there competing," said Martin. "Not having our senior in there hurt in the first half but that performance from him in the second half is why we were in the game there late. Isaiah Atkins, our freshman, is playing great as well but he's getting better because he competes against Dom in practice each day." The Bulldogs kept the pressure on as both teams exchanged baskets throughout the quarter including Tre Locklear hitting a layup just as time expired in the third quarter, off a steal and a pass from Dominique Johnson, to put the Rebels with four at 47-43 at the quarter break. Boiling Springs started the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run behind back-to-back three-pointers from Landon Sprouse and Dominique Johnson to take their first lead of the second half at 49-47. With the game tied at 51-51, the Bulldogs Landon Sprouse hit a free throw to take a 52-51 lead with seven seconds left before the Rebels rushed down for the game winning shot by McDowell. Bulldogs senior Tre Locklear led all scorers registering a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Landon Sprouse added 16 points for the Bulldogs while Dominique Johnson added 13 points and six rebounds. Kobe Staggs led Byrnes with 16 points while Kade Caton added 15 points of his own. Boiling Springs will return to action on Monday in a game at Bob Jones University against Wade Hampton before returning to region play at home on Tuesday against Gaffney. GIRLS GAME - BYRNES 59 BOILING SPRINGS 22 Boiling Springs scored the first three points of the game on Friday night but from that point on it was pretty much all Byrnes on their way to a 59-22 victory. The Rebels outscored the Bulldogs 32-7 in the first half, as the Bulldogs only hit double-digits in the third quarter. Kylie McMillian led the Bulldogs with 12 points and six rebounds while Sarah Ezell added six points and 10 rebounds. Jada Evans also added four points, all in the third quarter for the Bulldogs. Te'Ericka Dowling led Byrnes with 12 points while Raven Edwards also added 11 points of her own. ROEBUCK, SC - The Boiling Springs boys' basketball team went on the road to face the #1 ranked team in 5A Dorman and for three quarters of the game the Bulldogs went toe-to-toe with the Cavaliers before eventually falling 65-50 on Tuesday night.
"Obviously it's good showing we can come here and compete with a team like Dorman but we have so many of the little things we still need to get better at," said Bulldogs head coach Craig Martin. "It's the little things that a team like Dorman does well and we're just not to that point yet. I think had we done the little things we could have made it competitive there at the end. Our guys played hard but if we're going to compete in this region we have to do better." After exchanging blows early in the first quarter, the Cavaliers held an 8-7 lead before closing the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 19-9 lead into the second quarter over the Bulldogs. In the second quarter the lead held early for the Cavaliers until about the four-minute mark when the Bulldogs went on a run to close out the quarter behind a strong shooting performance from senior point guard Tre Locklear. The Bulldogs outscored the Cavaliers 14-7 in the quarter as Locklear scored nine points in the final minute and a half to put the Dorman lead at 26-24 when the buzzer sounded for halftime. Locklear's second quarter performance brought his team right back into the game against the highest ranked team in 5A. "It's like what we said in the locker room, Tre does what Tre does," said Martin. "He tonight proved why he's one of the better players in the state. That kid has the heart of a 6'8" kid and I couldn't be prouder of him. He deserves everything he is going to get and was a lifesaver for our team tonight." In the third quarter the Cavaliers advanced their lead to seven points behind a strong quarter from Dorman's Jamarcus Wilkins who scored 10 of his team's 17 points in the quarter. The Bulldogs fought back though as they trailed 45-40 before Landon Sprouse hit a three-pointer to cut the Dorman lead to 45-43 heading into the final quarter. The fourth quarter saw the rim basically get paved over for the Bulldogs as they got outscored 15-2 in the quarter as the Cavaliers advanced to a 60-45 victory over the Bulldogs. Boiling Springs was led by Tre Locklear who led all scorers with 22 points on Tuesday night. He was joined in double figures by Landon Sprouse who added 10 points of his own for the Bulldogs. Dorman had three players score in double figures as Jamarcus Wilkins led the way with 16 points. Sean Lindsay added 14 points while Chase Harris added 12 points of his own. Boiling Springs will return to action on Friday night when they host the #3 ranked team in 5A Byrnes. GIRLS GAME - DORMAN 64 BOILING SPRINGS 34 In the girls' game it was pretty much all Dorman from the start as the Cavaliers grabbed a 64-34 victory to start region play. Dorman raced out to a 32-9 halftime lead and the Bulldogs were never ever get much closer. Amiah Ellis led Boiling Springs with 10 points while Natalie Trudell had eight points to go along with nine rebounds. Dorman was led by Jenna Cothran who had 13 points while Morgan White added 10 points. ROCK HILL, SC - In the first weekend of January, the #7 ranked in 5A Boiling Springs wrestling team went to Rock Hill to compete in the two-day Bearcat Invitational Tournament, where the boys' team came away with a top five finish and the girls' team finished in the top 11.
The Boiling Springs boys' team finished in fifth place with a score of 151,in a field of thirty teams. The tournament champions were Chapin (230.5) followed by second place Lugoff-Elgin, third place Cane Bay, and just seven points behind fourth place Mallard Creek (NC). They were the highest finishing Region II-5A team finishing ahead of Byrnes (6th), Gaffney (9th), and Spartanburg (28th). Jason Blackwell came away with the highest finish for the Bulldogs at the 285lbs division, grabbing a third-place finish grabbing a 3-1 decision over Emmanual Davis from South Pointe. Harrison Bradford grabbed a fourth-place finish at the 145lbs division while Triston Ellison also grabbed a fourth-place finish at the 152lbs division. Boiling Springs also got four sixth-place finishes from Ayden Whisler (126), Trent Coppola (138), Jacob Dawkins (182), and Jacob Hill (220). Eddie Aleksik (7th), Peyton Hornack (8th), and Xavier Goodman (8th) also came away with strong finishes for the Bulldogs over the two-day tournament. On the girls' side of the tournament, the Boiling Springs girls' team came away with an 11th place finish out of 26 teams. The winner of the overall girls' tournament was the home standing Rock Hill Bearcats. The Bulldogs girls' team had pretty impressive performances from Chloe Osteen (106) who came away with a third-place finish defeating Yireh Charles of Clover for the third-place spot. Osteen's only loss over the two-day tournament was a tough 6-4 decision to Serenity Davis from Rock Hill. Rebecca Blackwell (150) also came away with a fourth-place finish for the Bulldogs' girls' team. She fell in the third-place match to Caroline Gilstrap of Summerville after going 2-1 in the tournament before that point. Anastasia Kunitska also went 3-2 for the Bulldogs at the tournament. Boiling Springs wrestling will be back in action on Tuesday at home against Dorman in region play before returning to the mat on Thursday in another region match against Byrnes. |
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