In basketball season to date, results favor the fairer sex.
In every instance in Laurens County and at Furman University – i.e., all the teams about which I write – the girls’/women’s team is better so far.
The only exception is Thornwell Charter School, whether neither of its fledgling varsity teams has won yet.
Laurens’ girls are 7-8; the boys are 6-12. Clinton’s girls are 11-5, the boys are 7-7. Laurens Academy’s girls are 13-1, the boys 8-9.
The Presbyterian College and Furman University women are both 11-7. The men’s teams are 9-9 and 7-9, respectively.
Laurens Academy split its home varsity games against Newberry Academy (2-7) on Thursday night. Jason Marlett’s girls, led by Olivia Huck with 16 points an Rylee Ballard with 11, limited the Eagles to nine second-half points while they were tallying 24.
Other Crusader scorers were Emily Suttles (6), Hannah Ervin (4), Sadie Bruyere (4) and Abby Howard (2).
Huck was 5/9 from the field, where the Crusaders were 16/43 (.372) as a team. LA canned 8/15 free throws.
Newberry Academy won the boys’ game, 36-28. No LA player scored in double digits, but Garrett Murphy and Braydon Burke each scored nine points.
Also scratching the book were Garrison Vaughn (5), Jared Willard (4) and Buddy Baker (1).
Newberry Academy is 5-8.
The LA girls also won their middle-school game, 32-6, while the boys were falling 32-23.
Elias Littleton led the Crusader boys with 10 points. Braylee Burke led the girls with nine.
The girls are a perfect 110 so far.
Wade Hampton swept the junior-varsity games against Laurens on Thursday in Taylors.
Quin Anderson scored 10 points for the Raiders in a 37-27 boys’ loss, and the Generals captured the girls’ game, 22-18.
Woodruff postponed the scheduled Region 4-3A games against Clinton scheduled for the Wolverines’ home court on Friday.
Yes. Rain. In indoor basketball games. What’ll they think of next?
Presbyterian College, that hotbed of collegiate wrestling, is in action this weekend with the 11th-ranked women taking on third-ranked King on Saturday at 3 p.m.in Bristol, Tenn., then hitting the road to play seventh-ranked Campbellsville (Ky.) on Sunday at the same time.
The men’s team took the mat on Friday at Davidson College. Presbyterian (1-5) played Little Rock and Cleveland State at John Belk Arena on the North Carolina school’s campus.
The Blue Hose’ 40-day stretch of road-only matches ends on Sunday when Truett McConnell visits at 2 p.m.
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Nightrider's Lament 