PREP NOTEBOOK: New hoops all-star games will showcase local talent
A new high school basketball all-star game and junior showcase event is coming to Columbia next month.
The Capital City Senior All-Star game and South Carolina Junior Showcase will be held March 12 at Heathwood Hall.
“It will be a first-class event,” said event organizer Carey Rich, who played at C.A. Johnson and South Carolina. “I was able to attain my dream and play at the next level and want to put other kids in the position to attain that same dream.”
The Capital City Senior All-Star game will feature boys and girls players from around the Columbia area not playing in one of the South Carolina Coaches all-star games. The Junior Showcase will feature the top junior boys and girls from around the state in both public and private schools.
“We want to showcase some of the top juniors in the state to go up against each other,” Rich said. “With the Capital senior game, we want to give them one last opportunity playing on a big stage and allow them a chance to reach the next level. If we can help at least or two kids to do that, then we did our job.”
Rich said coaches for the games will be announced this weekend and rosters will be released next week.
Hammond’s Green enjoys special Senior Night
Hammond’s Amelia Green had her senior season cut short with an ACL injury.
But Green got to score one final basket in her high school career during senior night last week against Ben Lippen. Skyhawks coach Roshon Myers talked with Ben Lippen’s Kristen Dickerson about allowing the two teams to trade baskets at the beginning of the game.
Green hadn’t appeared in a game since the injury Dec. 18 against Concord First Assembly. Before the injury, she was averaging 12.8 points a game and was an all-state selection last year.
“We as a coaching staff and parents wanted to make Amelia feel just as special as she has been to the Hammond program,” Myers said. “She has been a starter since the eighth grade and a leader ever since. When she fell victim to injury it was devastating to our team and coaches. The coaches and team dedicated the rest of the season to her.”
Hammond begins the SCISA Class 3A playoffs Tuesday in Sumter.
Basketball playoffs news and notes
Westwood’s 43-41 win over Wade Hampton on Tuesday was the first playoff victory of any female sports team at the school since it opened four years ago. It’s also the school’s first playoff win in basketball. The Redhawks will play Rock Hill in the second round Friday at 4 p.m. The start time was moved up because of the Class 4A upper state wrestling qualifier being held there.
The Brookland-Cayce boys’ win over Hanahan was their first playoff win since Feb. 15, 2008. The Bearcats host Lakewood on Friday.
Lexington girls’ 52-45 win over West Ashley was the school’s first playoff win since 2012.
James Fuller-Davis scored 11 points in the final two minutes, including a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to give Richland Northeast a 46-43 win over Eastside in the first round of Class 3A playoffs Tuesday.
Lexington’s Holdman to Newberry
Lexington soccer player Bryce Holdman signed with Newberry last week.
Holdman is a midfielder for the Wildcats and part of the four-person signing class for first-year Wolves’ coach Bryce Cooper.
“Bryce is a high character young man who has an outstanding work rate, is a great teammate and is constantly seeking ways to better himself,” Cooper said.
Midlands football players in 247Sports rankings
Chapin tight end Will Register, Brookland-Cayce lineman Octavious Pringle and Ridge View defensive end Damani Staley are in the top 12 of the 247Sports rankings for the South Carolina Class of 2017.
Register, a South Carolina commit, was No. 7 with Pringle 11th and Staley 12th. Pringle has an offer from North Carolina State. Staley has four offers, including one from South Carolina.
Lower/upper state wrestling this weekend
The South Carolina High School League upper and lower state wrestling championships will be held Friday and Saturday at six different sites throughout the state.
The top four in each weight division in the upper and lower state will qualify for next weekend’s individual state wrestling championships in Anderson.
This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 12:08 AM with the headline "PREP NOTEBOOK: New hoops all-star games will showcase local talent."