Monday evening two Clarendon County School District Basketball teams from Scott’s Branch Middle/High School and Manning Junior High School met at Roy Jones Gymnasium in Summerton, South Carolina. Both teams are powerhouses in Middle School Basketball. Under the Coaching Greatness and leadership of Ms. Calvin. MJHS’s team are last year’s 22/23 Conference Champions, having defeated the Eagles in a nail biter in Lee County.
Scott’s Branch under the Coaching phenomenon Coach Caldwell and the young “Boogie Branch Boys” were 21/22 Middle School Conference Champions.
Now they face off in a contest that some would say was a tie breaker between these two championship teams. During each teams’s possession the players were fast and furious. The Monarchs struck first lighting up the score board with a comfortable lead in the 1st quarter.
2nd quarter the Eagles got off their C game and played basketball.
3rd & 4th quarter they pushed the rock past the Monarchs with the team’s mental and defense tactics that were virtually uncontested.
Coach Caldwell stated after the game, “Was a good game against a good Manning team. Team play great team defense, that is what we hang our hat on is our defense. It helps us get easy baskets and keep the other team from scoring. Our player of the game would be Ari Rendell he was a beast in the low post rebounding and blocking shots. We are small in numbers but big at heart. Collectively we came together stayed together and finished together. We are young and still learning the game of basketball and life. In addition to Ari’s contributions, the other starters Kazon Taylor, Darnel Livingston, Fra’zon Bennett and Kendall Ragin. All played executing the plays just like they practiced.”
Eagles finish the week 11-1. They take on Hannah Pamlico next week. Final Score Eagles 57 - Monarchs 50.
