Clarendon County closes out its regular season as Manning, East Clarendon face off

The regular season came to an end on Thursday for Clarendon County rivals East Clarendon and Manning.

The Monarchs will now turn their attention to the postseason after surviving one of the most difficult regions in the state. Both East Clarendon squads and the Lady Monarchs, meanwhile, shift their focus to the offseason.

MONARCHS ROLL

The Manning boys wrapped up their regular season with a resounding 74-43 win over the Wolverines. The game was back and forth for most of the first half, but the Monarchs started to break away at the end of the second quarter. They carried a 39-28 lead into halftime before running away with things after the break.

For Monarch head coach Shawn Johnson, this was the cherry on top of a strong regular season, in which Manning finished 16-5 and will go into the playoffs ranked No. 5 in SCHSL 2A. They're slated to face off with Woodland, the No. 4 seed out of Region VI-2A, in the first round of the playoffs.

"We've got a good Woodland team coming to Manning, so we're just trying to play everybody so everybody can get some floor time and we can keep trying to get better," Johnson said after nine Monarchs scored in the win. "We played a terribly good conference. Our region was tough. Lake City, Marion and Mullins ACA (Atlantic Collegiate) and (East Clarendon) is not bad. That's what we had to do."

All four playoff teams from the region were ranked at one point in the season. Atlantic Collegiate is the top team in the classification heading into the playoffs and handed Manning two of their three region losses. The Monarchs split with No. 6-ranked Mullins during the regular season and earned a home playoff game in the process.

"The size and shooting we have in our region prepares us (for the postseason) because we've seen it," Johnson said. "We're going to continue to lean on that. We're not afraid."

Manning's depth has been key all season, as they've had a slew of different players step up throughout the season. On Thursday, star guard Jeffery Ceasar took center stage, scoring 26 points. His two three-pointers in the third quarter helped Manning build a lead they would not relinquish. Taivon Carter and Tyler Green each had 11, while Lovell Stevenson had 10. That's the group that Dr. Johnson is confident will carry the Monarchs to success in the postseason.

"We're going to lean on Jeffery Ceasar, Taivon Carter, our seniors," the Manning head coach said. "We play a lot of young players, so we're going to lean on our seniors to get where we need to be."

WOLVERINES GROW THROUGH TOUGH SEASON

The East Clarendon boys, meanwhile, end their season with a 6-18 record after a challenging winter. The Wolverines battled injuries to some of their top players and couldn't find a way to push over the top in their brutally difficult region.

Thursday's loss was an encapsulation of East Clarendon's season. They showed spurts of excellent play, but once things started to slip away, they couldn't keep pace with the veteran squad from Manning.

"It was a crazy year. We had injuries happen, football injuries that slowed us down with Whit (Nesbitt) getting hurt. If you'd asked me in November, they didn't touch the floor together until Tuesday night," head coach Patrick Kelly said. "This region doesn't play around. If there's a better basketball region, there can't be many tougher than this. We're just undersized, and we get outrebounded. I told the locker room that I can't make them taller, but we can make them stronger and faster. It was a wild year with a lot of learning."

Freshman James Gamble kept East Clarendon in Thursday's game early. He hit two threes and had 14 points in the opening half but managed just four points after the break. He was the only Wolverine in double figures. While East Clarendon had some important senior leaders in Nesbitt and Darius McCray, this was a young group that was thrown into the fire.

"They learned with their feet on the fire. That's a tough way to learn," Kelly said. "There was some frustration; they don't want to sit, and I don't want them to sit either, but I don't want to give them nightmares, PTSD every time they step on the court. I had two freshmen, and they got a lot of playing time this year, and they're tough kids. The rest of them were sophomores coming off the bench. They won't be young next year."

LADIES WRAP UP SEASON

East Clarendon ran away with a dominant 51-28 win over Manning, but both teams saw their seasons come to an end on Thursday night.

The Lady Wolverines were able to end on a high note, getting 21 points from Cherish Cochran as they cruised to victory. EC had a young squad after graduating some critical seniors last season, so there were some bumps and bruises, but head coach Demetress Adams-Ludd was proud of her team's growth.

"I am satisfied of our team's maturity this season. We started off with a fairly new roster and a huge role to fill from last year's dynamic seniors," she said. "Our team stayed committed to enduring this tough season and process. We found small goals to conquer daily. The final product of that shift in perspective has helped us become better in our play as the season progressed."

One of the true bright spots down the stretch was Cochran, who found her rhythm offensively in a region that finished with four Top 10 teams in SCHSL 2A.

"Cherish Cochran has been a key in running our team, as well as being an offensive threat," Adams-Ludd said. "Her dedication this summer and work ethic has been on display this season. We have a strong coaching staff, including skill development coach Gianne Fleming, who has supported our kids in elevating their skills."

But Cochran wasn't the only standout for EC. Adams-Ludd saw growth across the board with a group that will return all but two players next season.

"Overall, we have seen tremendous improvement from Kierstin Woods, who has been a consistent post player," the East Clarendon head coach said after finishing 5-14 on the season. "It is very helpful to utilize her size to protect and finish around the rim. Payton Hanniford, a first-year varsity player, brought double-figure rebounding, which is pure heart and tenacity. Along with Cherish, guards like Bailey Hicks and Tymani Cooper have brought their speed and ball-handling abilities to the varsity level this season. Not to mention defensive stoppers like Addison Fleming, Courtney McFadden and Shae Lee, who are always up for a challenge in our defensive schemes. Hailey Robinson, a senior, was a good sixth man for our post until she endured a season-ending injury.

"I look forward to the continued growth of our team and program this season. Although our win column doesn't reflect our success, our kids have learned so much about perseverance. Those life lessons are a part of the sport but will be a virtue for our team and coaches in life."

Manning head coach Justin Johnson was singing a similar tune after the game. The Lady Monarchs finished 5-18 on the season but were in striking distance of victories several times in this challenging region. Heartbreaking losses like a 51-44 defeat to No. 6 Kingstree and 43-41 loss to No. 7 Atlantic Collegiate were a few examples of growth for a team that included two middle-schoolers and just three seniors.

"The biggest thing for me is that we improved as we went along and, in region play, we played everyone within two or three possessions at some point. That tells me we're knocking on the door," Johnson said. "We've got a lot of kids that played big minutes coming back next year, so we're going to try to build on that and get some momentum coming into next season ready to go."

Senior Tahirah Wellington led Manning with nine points in their loss to EC, while sophomore Aysia Moore added seven and junior Tamia Watson scored six. Johnson loved the growth he saw from eighth-grader Ameerah Conyers. Johnson will now get a full offseason with this group, which he's excited to see.

"I thought Aysia Moore came along as the season progressed and started to figure out how to get to the basket to find some scoring opportunities. She led us in scoring through region play. Ameerah Conyers to step up to varsity as an eighth-grader, it's a learning curve, but I felt like she handled it fairly well," Johnson said. "Taniya Johnson became very steady for us at the point guard position, though she was out tonight due to COVID. And Tamia Watson these last three weeks of the season has been absolutely phenomenal."