Bulldogs Boys Basketball Looking To BuildIn June the Boiling Springs basketball program got a shake up when head coach and Bulldogs athletic director Hal McManus accepted a new job at Socastee High School after five seasons leading the team. After the departure of McManus the Bulldogs gave control of the program to Curtis Nash, a Dorman and Wofford graduate, who served as Bulldogs JV coach last season and was formerly the head coach at Woodruff High School. Nash says that his goal this season will be to work on building the team not only on the court but off of it as well. "My goal this season is to focus on building team culture and have our kids enjoy playing basketball," said Nash. "With this group of guys we intend to play with high energy for four quarters and at the end of the year our success will not be measured only by wins but also on how we exemplify character on and off the court." Last season the Bulldogs had a strong out of region record going 9-3 but struggled when they hit region play as they were competing against some of the best teams in the state including defending 5A state champion Dorman. As the Bulldogs enter a new season they will also be entering a new region where they will be competing against a brand new group of teams that include Fort Mill, Nation Ford, and Clover with the only familiar team being Gaffney. Nash says that while the Bulldogs will have a similar look as last year he wants to put his own spin on the team this year. "Coach McManus done some pretty good things that I'll be keeping but I want to put my own stamp on the team," said Nash. "My philosophy this year is to be high energy while causing some chaos and turning that into some turnovers and easy buckets." The Bulldogs will be returning three starters from last season as seniors Corey Johnson and Camden Earls will be back along with All-Region junior Khalil Brown. Johnson was named to the All-Tournament team at the Impact Sports Tournament preseason tournament this past week after averaging twenty-points a game for the tournamentm including a twenty-seven points against Mauldin. They will also look to get key contributions from junior newcomers Ketrone Adams and Julius Camp Jr. along with sophomore Tre' Locklear. "Our lineup isn't full of 6'9" kids but we have a bunch of scrappy kids that play hard and give you all they have," said Nash. "We're going to look to turn that positive energy into some positive offense along with some defensive stops." Nash says that he wants his team to be a hard nosed team which is a philosophy he learned from Mark Freeze, his former coach at Dorman. "I played under Mark Freeze at Dorman and for anyone that knows Mark Freeze he's a hard nosed coach who demands you to give it all you have," said Nash. "I hope to do the same for these kids." When Nash was named the interim head basketball coach at Boiling Springs he set some history in the Bulldogs program as he became the first African-American coach to lead the boys basketball team. With the tragedies and events that have transpired throughout the country over the past year, the weight of this moment isn't lost on Nash as he says being the first African-American coach in the program's history just adds a little more pressure to him this season. "It means a lot with the climate of the world right now and to be the first here at Boiling Springs is a big deal," said Nash. "Just knowing that I'm the first adds that much more pressure on me to do well." Nash says that some of that pressure also comes from the fact that he has a long family history that runs through the Boiling Springs community. "While I graduated from Dorman my parents and family are from Boiling Springs," said Nash. "My mother as well as many of my aunts and uncles all came through Boiling Springs. So to be a part of the history here and what it signifies is real special." The Bulldogs kicked off their season with a 2-1 record at the Impact Sports Invitational preseason tournament just before Thanksgiving where their only loss came against Mauldin, who is the #3 ranked team in 5A. They will start their regular season December 1st when they host Woodruff. Patience Is Key For Young Lady BulldogsThe phrase around the Boiling Springs girls basketball season this year will be patience as the team will only have three seniors with just two returning starters. "We have a very young roster this season," said Bulldogs head coach Dwayne Lytle. "Our word for this season is patience as eight of our eleven players are underclassmen. We are expecting a couple of freshman and a sophomore to play key minutes this year." While the Bulldogs are preaching patience they will still look to be very competitive as they return starters Laisha Labra and D'Marria Glenn, two players that the Bulldogs expect big things from this year. "Laisha and D'Marria will be our two returning starters this year and we will be counting on them to be key leaders both offensively and defensively this season," said Lytle. Labra and Glenn will be joined by fellow returners Ansley King, Maddie Holcombe, and Amiah Ellis as they hope to bring stability to a young team. They will be joined by newcomers Chantel Lyles, Kylie McMillan, and Sara Ezell as they look to attack a brand new region this season. Boiling Springs will be joining Region III-5A this season where they will be a part of a very competitive region that includes Clover and Nation Ford who are ranked preseason number one and number nine in the 5A preseason poll. The other two teams in the region will be Fort Mill and a familiar foe in Gaffney. Even with the high ranked teams being in their conference Lytle expects the Bulldogs to be competitive in their brand new region. "The ladies are putting in work in the gym to get ready for this season," said Lytle. "We are looking to establish our claim as the top team in our new region." The Bulldogs will kick off their season on December 1st as they host Woodruff before finishing out the opening week with a road matchup at Chesnee on December 4th. Young Bulldogs Wrestling Team Looking To CompeteBoiling Springs wrestling will be mixing a lot of youth with some experience in the 2020 season and are hoping that recipe will be the perfect mix for a region title this season.
"We have a large group of freshman this year which is exciting," said Bulldogs head coach Lee Thomas. "We're going to have an overall young group looking to gain some mat experience for the future while still competing for a region title." The Bulldogs finished last season with an 18-10 record where they finished third in the region but will have five starters returning off of last year's team. Two of those returners will be Drayton Wines and Ayden Whisler who both qualified for the state tournament last season. They will also look to get key contributions from newcomers Harrison Brafford, Kohen Sloand, and Eddie Aleksik. Boiling Springs will kick off their 2020 season in a home matchup on December 15th against Chesnee. Comments are closed.
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