Laurens Academy fell a game short in its bid to for a state championship in girls’ basketball, and powerful Clemson escaped a mild upset bid by Presbyterian College on the baseball diamond on Tuesday.
LA lost its best player, Olivia Huck, to ankle injury, and try as they might, the Crusaders fell to Curtis Baptist, 48-39, in the SCISA Class A girls’ basketball semifinals.
Huck, who injured her ankle in the quarterfinals, couldn’t go in the game played at Columbia’s Cardinal Newman School. Curtis Baptist, which also identifies as Crusaders, is located in Augusta, Ga., but competes in the S.C. independent schools association.
The county’s Crusaders gave it their best shot and stayed in the game until the fourth quarter, which began with Laurens Academy (24-2) leading, 29-28.
Foul trouble forced Jason Marlett’s team turn down its full-court pressure.
Maci Butler of Curtis Baptist (21-5) scored 18 points to lead all scorers. Mia Price added 10.
Rylee Ballard led LA with 11 points, and Hannah Ervin added 10.
Also listed in the nearby Crusaders’ scoring line were Madisyn Graham (8), Sadie Bruyere (6), Emily Suttles (2) and Abby Howard (2).
Without Huck’s sharpshooting, LA hit just 16/44 (.364) from the field and 2/13 (.210) from three-point distance. Ballard tried to fill the scoring void but was just 3/18 from the field. Without Huck, the local Crusaders were a one-trick pony.
Curtis Baptist, by the way, shot even worse, connecting on 14/50 (.280) of its field-goal attempts. The distant Crusaders sank 11 more free throws. LA was 5/13. CB was 16/32.
Curtis Baptist hit 4/16 from deep.
Presbyterian led for a while and was within a run until the bottom of the seventh inning, at which point the country’s eight-ranked college-baseball team, Clemson, finally overwhelmed the Blue Hose, 8-2, at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Tuesday night.
The battle of the unbeatens was true in fact but not by comparison.
PC, which had put up 58 runs in a four-game sweep of Saint Peter’s, made the most of three hits.
Clemson center fielder Cam Cannarella, Jimmy Obertop and second baseman Jarren Purify all homered for the 4-0 Tigers, who collected 10 hits off four PC pitchers and none off Laurens’ Tanner Smith, who pitched the final inning.
The Blue Hose’ three hits came from the top of the order – second baseman Jack Gorman, shortstop Brody Fahr and center fielder Joel Dragoo – and Fahr’s double was PC’s only extra-base hit.
Joe Allen (1-0), the second of four Tiger hurlers, got the decision despite allowing PC’s two runs. Kyle Mueller (0-1), also the second from PC to take the mound, took the loss.
The Blue Hose bring in three separate opponents for a home series at Elton Pollock Field this weekend.
Canisius, of Buffalo, N.Y., visits on Friday at 4 p.m., Saint Joseph’s of Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday at 2 and Quinnipiac of Hamden, Conn., on Sunday at noon.
Take a look at the box here.
Presbyterian’s men’s golf team finished 12th in a field of 18 at the Wexford Intercollegiate at Hilton Head Island.
The Blue Hose recorded a three-round score of 913 (+49). Junior Jack Wofford finished tied for 33rd place with a three-round score of 227 (+11).
Georgia State won the tournament at 873 (+9). Georgia State’s Connor MacMillan, Winthrop’s Mason Tucker and South Carolina-Aiken’s Oscar Abrahamson finished tied atop the leaderboard with an even-par score of 216.
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