2 weeks Ago
It won’t be long for Berkeley County School District sports teams before the sounds of touchdowns and quarterback sacks will give way to slam dunks and pin falls as the scene moves indoors. First practices for basketball and wrestling are Monday, Nov. 4, with the first day for scrimmages and jamborees set for Monday, Nov.
11, and preseason tournaments Friday, Nov. 22. The regular season cranks up Monday, Dec.
2. The 2023-24 seasons were memorable for some county athletes on the hardwood and mat. Cross High School’s boys basketball team experienced the program's best season-ever, finishing as co-region champion and advancing to the Class A Lower State championship game.
The Trojans stacked up 22 victories for coach Chaquain Boone. They were tied going into the final eight minutes of the Lower State matchup after battling back from double-digit deficits in the first half. “This leaves a sour taste in our mouth because it was right there for the taking,” Boone said in late February after Cross’s 10-point loss to Bethune-Bowman inside the Florence Center.
“Obviously, this one stings, but it should be a lot of motivation for (2024-25).” Cross lost six seniors, but can bring back a core group led by junior forward Caden Ramsey. Ramsey, also a standout on the gridiron, averaged more than 17 points and 10 rebounds as a sophomore.
Today's Top Headlines Story continues below Three other county squads captured region crowns in 2023-24: Philip Simmons’ girls, Goose Creek’s girls and Cane Bay’s boys. Of that group, the Lady Gators traveled farther in the postseason. Coach Jabari Deas’ bunch made it to the third round of the Class 5A playoffs before falling to Summerville.
Several other teams won at least one playoff game on the hardwood. Inside the circle, five wrestlers reached the top of the podium in late February at the Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center. Headlining the three boys and two girls staking claims to state titles was Cane Bay senior J.
J. Peace, who became one of the most decorated competitors on the mat in state history by winning the 5A title at 126 pounds. Peace became only the 27th four-time state wrestling champion and the first from the school district to accomplish the feat.
Timberland senior Alex Rush won the 120-pound class in Class 2A and Goose Creek senior Uriah Peters-Gutierrez captured the title in girls’ 140-pound weight class. As for grapplers returning this winter, Goose Creek sophomore Montero Royal coasted to the 106-pound title in 5A as a freshman and Cane Bay senior Madeline Bowlin reeled in the girls’ 120-pound crown as a junior. The school district has produced at least one state champion seven years in a row and 13 of the previous 14 seasons.
The top performing squads in the duals playoffs were Goose Creek and Timberland, which advanced to the Lower State championship matches in Class 5A and Class 2A-A..
