Local Notes
SCHSL Basketball Brackets… If you would like to see all the brackets for the South Carolina High School League for all the classifications both boys and girls, click here…. NOTE… For all SCHSL playoff games, the tickets will cost $8 each and anyone over the age of two must have a ticket to enter… The only passes that will be accepted are SCHSL passes… No school issued passes of any type will be accepted.
Clinton HS
- Lady Red Devils 40 – Griffins 30
- The Lady Red Devils hosted region foe the Lady Griffins of Fairfield Central last night and I am pleased to report that they took a 40-30 win over the Griffins after trailing 15-13 at the half… It was a slow first half that saw both teams have trouble getting the shots to drop as the score was 7-4 Clinton after 8 minutes of play… The Red Devils also had trouble rebounding in the first half and misses all 3 free throw attempts in the first half.
- Coach Gardner challenged them at the half to get more physical, drive the lane as 3-point shots were not falling and get to the boards in the second half…. The Red Devils responded and took the lead for good about half way through the third quarter as their defense caused the Griffins to turn the ball over more than in the first half and they also controlled the boards in the second half… The Red Devils led 25-22 at the end of the third quarter and the fact that they started making free throws down the stretch helped them pull away to the win.
- The Griffins Jazz McMillian led all scorers with 18 points which was only 1 point above her per game average… The Red Devils were led in scoring by Bryanna Belton who finished with 14 points… McKenzie Clark and Ry’Daija Mars scored 9 points each, Kemaria Shelton 6 and Mylayja Thompson 2.
- Up Next… With the win the Red Devils punched their ticket to the Upper State Finals against another region foe Eau Clair which defeated still another region foe Mid-Carolina 54-43 in Columbia last night… The game will take place next Tuesday at The Florence Center at 6:00 pm… The winner of that game will play for the state championship at noon on Saturday in the same location…. For more information about the semifinal and finals including a link to purchase your tickets ahead of time click here… Go Big Red!
Laurens HS
- Five Raider Wrestlers Finish in Top Four of State Individual Tournament… This past weekend 11 male and 1 female wrestlers from LDHS participated in the SCHSL State Individual Wrestling Championship at the Florence Civic Center… The Raiders had 4 male and the 1 female wrestler to finish in the top 4 of the event.
- In the 138 pound division, Dakota McCall finished first taking a 7–2 decision over his opponent
- In the 144 pound division, Michael Aiken finished second.
- In the 150 pound division, Leyden Gentry also finished second.
- In the 120 pound division, Kai McCall lost a close 5-4 decision to his opponent
- And last but certainly not least, Emily Riopel placed 4th in the female 170 pound weight class.
- Congratulations to these Raiders for a fine sho0wing this past weekend and to the Raider team and Coach Jordan for finishing second in the team completion this year!
Thornwell… Catching up on some odds and ends at Thornwell… Congratulations to:
- KJ Singleton for being named to the Region 1A Boys All-Region Team
- Zaylen Washington for being nominated for the Class A All-State Basketball Team
- Coach Justin Dawkins for being named the Region 1A Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.
Local Sports Schedules: All schedules subject to change right up to game time.
- 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 each of the following to see their schedule: Softball and Baseball …. Also you can click on the following to see their schedule on MaxPreps: Varsity Girls and Varsity Boys.… You can also click here to see the master basketball schedule for the Crusade teams. .
- Thornwell: To see the Thornwell varsity basketball schedules and results click on one of the following: Varsity Girls, Boys… Also Master Schedule that includes middle school games click here.
- PC Sports Calendar… To see the PC athletics sports calendar, click here.
College Sports: For any game mentioned below, click on the score for more details if available.
College Basketball… In the polls the number in parenthesis (?) indicates their rank in the last poll if it is different from the present one… If there is a score given for game(s) click on it to see details on the game(s).
Men
- DI AP Poll… The latest AP Top 25 Poll (2-23-25) some changes in the top 5 this week… Auburn is still #1 followed by Duke (3) Florida (2), Houston (5) and Tennessee (6)… There were also some changes in spots 6-10 as Alabama (4) now checks in at #6 followed by St. John’s (10), Michigan St. (8), Iowa State (8) and Texas Tech (9)…Clemson moved up from #18 to #13 this week… To see the remainder of the top 25 click here.
- DI Scores… To see the scores foe last night and also for the previous couple of days click here… You can also look ahead to the next few days to see who will be playing.
- Standings by Conference… To see the conference standings for each of the DI conferences, click here… It’s a long list so if you want to see say the SEC standings, you have to scroll down a good bit.
Women
- DI AP Poll… The latest AP Top 25 Poll (2-23-25) also had a few changes in the top 5… Texas (2) is the new #1 followed by UCLA (3), Notre Dame (1), Southern California and UConn … Spots 6-10 are now occupied by South Carolina, LSU, North Carolina (9), NC State (13) and TCU… To see the remainder of the top 25 click here.
- DI Scores… To see the scores foe last night and also for the previous couple of days click here… You can also look ahead to the next few days to see who will be playing.
- Standings by Conference… To see the conference standings for each of the DI conferences, click here… It’s a long list so if you want to see say the SEC standings, you have to scroll down a good bit.
Pro Sports: For more information on the game(s) below, click on the scores at the start of the section.
NASCAR
- Christopher Bell Wins in Atlanta Overtime Cup Series Race… In case you missed it Sunday, Christopher Bell took the win in the Cup Series race in Atlanta… The race went overtime finishing with a green-white-checkered finish… Bell and the others took the white flag and then on the back straightaway he was in front when drivers behind eh lead pack wrecked bringing out the caution and by NASCAR rule since he was ahead after taking the white flag when the caution light came on, he was declared the winner… Talk about being in the right spot at the right time… For more on this race including the order of finish for the entire field, click here. .
- Driver Standings… After this race, the top 3 drivers in the Cup Series Standings are Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Tyler Reddick… If you click here you will go the NASCAR posting that has the Cups Series standings from top to bottom… Once you get there you can click on tabs at the top of the page to see the driver standings in the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series.
- Master Schedule… If you click here it will carry you to the NASCAR website where the season schedule is posted and you can look at the Cup Series. Xfinity Series or the Craftsman Truck Series by clicking on their icon at the top of the list… In addition to the date and location, it will also give you race times and TV viewing options.
This & That:
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.
