Local Notes:
Clinton HS:
- Red Devils Idle Last Night… The Red Devil varsity teams were idle last night as they did not travel to Broome to take on the Centurions because of COVID problems in the Broome program… Right now (and subject to change) they are scheduled to travel to Broom on Monday, 1-24-22… Also as you may recall the Red Devils region opener fell victim to a COVID problem in the Union County program… Late yesterday it was announced that the Red Devils will be traveling to Union HS today to take on the Yellow Jackets with the girls’ game starting at 6:00 followed by the boys’ game… Go Big Red.
Laurens HS… The Laurens Raiders opened region play last night by hosting the Greenwood Eagles… The Eagles have become a traditional rival and the games are usually hotly contested and that was the case again last night…
- Girls: Raiders 54 – Eagles 51… In girls’ action, the two teams battled to a 11-11 tie at the end of the first quarter, a 21-21 tie at the half, a 34-34 tie at the end of the third quarter but the Raiders prevailed in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Eagles 20-17 in the fourth quarter to take a 54-51 win… as the score would indicate the two teams battled evenly with the Raiders tending to hold a slight lead but the Eagles would not let them pull away… One reason for the Raiders pulling it out in the final 8 minutes was Zoe Young-Dial… She got into early foul trouble in the first half and was held to just 1 point in the half…. She scored 2 points in the third quarter then “broke loose” scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter including some clutch free throws… She finished with 13 points but Raniya Jackson was the leading scorer for the Raiders with 17 points… After the game Coach Aianna Kelly was pleased to get the win and pointed out that the Raiders had played well running their offense last night but did leave some points off the board as they had trouble converting offensive rebounds into points… Erianna Wardlaw had a game high 27 points for the Eagles and over half of those came with her playing with 4 fouls… Others scoring for the Raiders were Qua Fortson with 8, Angel Johnson 4, Amillion Evans 4, MyAngel Walker 4, Faith Jackson 2 and Wymaya Givens 2… The Raiders are now on a 3-game winning streak and have improved their overall record to 4-7 and of course 1-0 in region play.
- Boys: Raiders 50 – Eagles 48… In the final game of the night, the Raiders took a 50-48 win that was even more “hotly” contested than the girls… The game saw the Raiders with a slight lead most of the way and never really able to pull away from the Eagles as the two teams played a very “physical” game that saw a couple of technical fouls being called due to some less than stellar sportsmanship being shown by the Eagles… The Raiders led 22-21 at the half and 36-31 going into the final 8 minutes of play as they held off an Eagle comeback and last second shot that would have tied or won the game… The Raiders were led by senior Isiah Burnside’s game-high 19 points all but 6 of which came in the second half… Van Butler, Preston Mahon and Blake Nelson all finished with 6 points each for the Raiders… Josh Cureton had 4 points as did Pe’rel Shands… Coach Tommy spires was obviously pleased to win the region opener and get the team’s third win in as many games as they improved to 8-9 on the season and 1-0 in region play… The Raider varsity teams are scheduled to travel to Greenville HS this Friday to take on the Red Raiders.
Laurens Academy… The Laurens Academy Crusaders hosted the Wardlaw Patriots in region action last night.
- Girls: Patriots 39 – Crusaders 33… The Lady Crusaders lost a tough one last night as they led 25-11 going into the locker room at the half but in the second half their offense went about as cold as the weather last night while the Patriots’ offense heated up as they came back to take a 39-33 win over the Crusaders… The Crusaders had two players scoring in double-digits as Olivia Huck had a game-high 17 points to lead the Crusaders and Rylee Ballard finished with 11 points… Elissa Hucks finished with 3 points and Payton Breen 2… The Crusaders fall to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in region play.
- Crusaders 68 – Patriots 30… The news is better for Crusader fans where the boys’ game is concerned as the Crusaders outscored the Patriots 50-11 in the first half and then went on to take a 68-30 win… Coach Plowden was definably able to get his bench into the game in the second half as the Crusaders improved their record to 9-7 overall and 4-1 in region play… The Crusaders were led in scoring by Jarred Willard who had a game-high 14 points… Two other Crusaders also scored in double-digits as Buddy Baker finished with 13 points and Clarence Bertoli 11… Others scoring for the Crusaders were Dimitri Well with 8 points, Travis Gosnell 6, Daniel Ervin 6, Diamonte Grant 5, and Cal Robertson 5… The Crusaders’ Twitter posting says the boys will be back at home tonight hosting Anderson Christian at 6:00 pm.
- Middle School Results… In middle school action yesterday before the varsity games the Patriots took a 22-8 win over the Crusaders and the middle school boys turned the tables taking a 40-30 win over the Patriots… sorry no other details on these games.
Broadcast Notes… Below is a list of dates, tipoff times and teams that we plan on broadcasting live sports on Real Radio WLBG… And as usual you can hear it live on 860AM, 104.1 FM and the internet at www.wlbg.com.
- Tuesday, 1-18-22: Sanders at Gray Court-Owings @ 5:00 pm
- Thursday, 1-20-22: Hickory Tavern at Laurens Middle school @ 5:00 pm
Local Sports Schedule: All schedules subject to change right up to game time due to COVID 19
- School District 55: To see the sports schedule for this week at LDHS, click here.
- School District 56: To see the sports schedule for this week at CHS and CMS, click here
- Laurens Academy: Click on the sport to see its schedule: Basketball 21-22 (all levels)
- PC Sports Calendar… To see the PC athletics sports calendar click here.
College Notes: For any game listed below click on the score at the beginning for more details
Men’s Basketball: For any game listed below click on the score at the beginning for more details
- Rankings… In case you missed the latest rankings for the NCAA DI Men, if you click here it will take you to where the top 25 in the AP Poll is located…
- Scores…. If you click here it will take you to the NCAA website where scores of DI games around the country can be found… Once you get there choose the date you want to see results on or choose a future date to see the schedule for that date…. You can even filter by conference or top 25 scores once you get there.
Women’s Basketball: For any game listed below click on the score at the beginning for more details
- Rankings… In case you missed the latest rankings for the NCAA DI Women, if you click here it will take you to where the top 25 in the AP Poll is located.
- Scores…. If you click here it will take you to the NCAA website where scores of DI games around the country can be found… Once you get there choose the date you want to see results on or choose a future date to see the schedule for that date…. You can even filter by conference or top 25 scores once you get there.
Pro Sports: For more information on the game(s) below, click on the score at the beginning.
NFL
- Schedule…To see the NFL schedule for this week and results after the games are finished click here.
- Standings… For the current standings in the NFL conferences click here.
NBA
- Scores… For the latest (and older) NBA scores click here.
- Standings… For the current standings in the NBA conferences click here.
This & That:
- Laurens YMCA Polar Plunge… On Friday, January 28th the Laurens Family YMCA will be hosting a Polar Plunge in their outdoor swimming pool where they are asking you to be freezing for a reason as they are looking to raise funds to help resurface their swimming pool… For just $25 you can take a dip in the pool which more than likely will be very cold… You can register on that date or ahead of time at the Laurens YMCA… Activities on that date will start at 4:00 pm and the actual plunge will take place at 5:00 pm… Call the YMCA at 984-2626 for more information.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to report scores, please contact me via email at: sports@wlbg.com or text me at 864-981-3470.
