Beaufort High rolls Beaufort Academy in BC Classic (WITH VIDEO)
bparker@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5536
In some ways, Beaufort High School's boys basketball team looked a lot like the football squad during Wednesday's opening round of the Mazzanna's Lawn Service BC Classic.
Options were aplenty in its 15-deep roster, and as coach Bruce Beasley kept cycling through his players, time after time Beaufort High used long passes downcourt to connect on easy scores like a open wide receiver.
It all made for an extremely tired Beaufort Academy team, which fielded just eight players during an 80-38 loss to Beaufort High.
"I wanted to wear them down because they are pretty tough with their (eight)," Beasley said. "I thought our guys did a good job of harassing the ball and playing solid defense."
Robert Turral had a team-high 15 points for Beaufort High, which saw 13 of its players score on the night.
Granted, things didn't start off so great for the home team. In the game's opening moments, Beaufort Academy jumped out to a 10-5 lead behind two 3-pointers.
But Beaufort Academy (4-1) took a huge blow when point guard Larry Stevenson was forced out of the game and did not return after being poked in the eye. The sequence prompted a number of Beaufort Academy's 32 total turnovers and an explosive 30-7 Beaufort High run over the next 10 minutes.
"I mean that does hurt, but you can't put it all on Larry," said Chris Ernestine, who had a team-high 15 points. "We just died down for some reason."
On the other hand, Beaufort High had plenty of players to fill the passing lanes, using a full-court trap to swarm its opponent while controlling the boards to open up a 48-22 lead by halftime.
PINEWOOD PREP 56, BEAUFORT HIGH GIRLS 41
Jerry Hickey's debut as Beaufort High girls coach didn't exactly start out as he had planned -- and this was even before tipoff.
Four of his players showed up late to the game, forcing him to reshuffle his lineup against a strong Pinewood Prep team. But the Panthers weren't too forgiving, scoring the game's first 12 points before securing a 56-41 victory against the Lady Eagles.
"We just weren't ready to play tonight and it started with our girls being undisciplined by showing up late," Hickey said. "The girls that I put in there worked hard, but we're struggling right now."
These struggles included missing open looks in the paint, trouble setting up their offense and sending Pinewood Prep to the line 10 times in the first half after surrendering second-chance opportunities.
The Lady Eagles found some success in the second half, thanks to two steals and six points from a hustling Celeste Taylor that sliced the deficit to 19. But by that point, Pinewood Prep was well on its way to delivering coach Nancy Beatty her 200th career win.
Girls
Goose Creek 48, Colleton County 36
Burke 43, Estill 33
Battery Creek78, Military Magnet 32
Pinewood Prep 56, Beaufort High 41
Boys
Wade Hampton 73, Colleton County 62
Burke 94, Estill 84
Battery Creek 74, Academic Magnet 42
Beaufort High 80, Beaufort Academy 38
Friday's games
Girls
* Colleton County vs. Military Magnet, 3 p.m.
* Battery Creek vs. Goose Creek, 6 p.m.
+ Estill vs. Beaufort High, 3 p.m.
+ Burke vs. Pinewood Prep, 6 p.m.
Boys
* Colleton County at Academic Magnet, 4:30 p.m. * Battery Creek vs. Wade Hampton, 7:30
p.m. + Beaufort High vs. Burke, 7:30 p.m.
+ Estill vs. Beaufort Academy, 4:30 p.m.
* at Battery Creek
+ at Robert Smalls



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