Carvers Bay and Waccamaw fall in playoffs

By Chris Sokoloski

csokoloski@gtowntimes.com

Carvers Bay High's boys basketball team, and the boys and girls teams from Waccamaw High all lost in the first round of the playoffs this week.

Carvers Bay

The Bears (13-12) lost 76-70 at Timmonsville on Tuesday night.

"This was a really good Timmonsville team," Carvers Bay coach Jeff Mezzatesta said. "We came out and we played pretty good for the first couple of minutes and then they went on a roll."

Timmonsville led 25-12 at the end of the first quarter, but Carvers Bay dominated the second quarter to cut the lead to 43-39 at halftime.

"We got down 11 or 12, but the kids battled back to cut it to four at the half," Mezzatesta said.

The Bears missed a couple of scoring opportunities in the third quarter and trailed 59-55 going into the fourth.

"All night it seemed like we were using all our energy to catch up," Mezzatesta said. "Then we would dig ourselves back in a hole. We couldn't get over that hump."

Both teams scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and Timmonsville held on to advance to the next round.

"The last two minutes of the game lasted forever," Mezzatesta said. "We were down 10 and the kids cut it to three. We threw everything at them but we just came up short."

Teondre Bromell led the Bears with 23 points. He finished his career with the most points scored in Carvers Bay history.

Rayshod Pittman had 12 points, Walter Linnen had 10, Da'Shaun Aiken had eight, Shayton Durand had seven, Rayshad Dorsey had six and Stephon Hannah had four.

"I'm proud of our kids, I wish the season could had continued," Mezzatesta said. "We knew going into the season we had a nucleus that we had to work around, and by the end some players really stepped up."

Although he's losing Bromell and Pittman to graduation, Mezzatesta expects players from this year's junior varsity team, which only lost three games, to step up next year.

"We have a lot to work on for next year but we have a lot coming back," Mezzatesta said. "The program keeps getting better and better. I keep telling the kids there's another level you can't see yet, there's a championship level."

Waccamaw

The Lady Warriors (6-14) lost to Lake City 57-30 on Tuesday night.

"It was a typical number four [seed] going to a number one" seed, Waccamaw coach Robert Burdette said. "They were really good on defense and we struggled. It was 11-0 before we got past half court."

Lake City led 26-9 at the end of the first quarter, 40-13 at the half, and 54-22 at the end of the third quarter.

"They were very aggressive and once again we had a little trouble scoring until the second half," Burdette said. "They did a classy job. They didn't run the score up like they could have. They just won the game and moved on."

Aaliyah Hudson and Imani Carr led Waccamaw with eight points each. Kelly Kaz had six points, and Mary Tyler and Jaynae Rice had four each.

Burdette said the playoff experience is something the team can build on for next year.

"We talked about the importance of the regular season and finishing somewhere higher than fourth. Our new goal is to finish first or second and get a home game."

Waccamaw's boys lost 56-39 to Timberland on Wednesday night.