By MONTE DUTTON

It’s been a month. Ain’t no catching up on the seasons. It’ll still be a while before I’m fit to describe the games in person. I’m still raising my legs and swinging them every which a ways. I’m hobbling around town as much as I can because that helps, too.
From a safe distance, however …
Alas, it’s more of the same in the Presbyterian College basketball program, where head coach Quinton Ferrell cannot win the close games.
Wednesday’s 76-67 loss in Rock Hill to Winthrop was the Blue Hose’ sixth in the last seven Big South games, with High Point (18-5, 6-2) visiting Templeton Center on Saturday for a 2 p.m. clash.

The Blue Hose (9-14, 2-6) are 1-11 on the road.
This is Ferrell’s sixth season at the helm. Entering Saturday, his won-lost record is 57-117.
With the women it’s a bit different. After a surprise appearance in the NCAA Tournament last year, Alaura Sharp moved on to Appalachian State, where Ferrell’s predecessor, Dustin Kerns, also now coaches.
New head coach Tiffany Sardin inherited an inexperienced club that is 4-17, 2-6 in the Big South, entering Saturday’s 7 p.m. game at High Point (11-10, 6-2).

Via social media, Clinton’s Cal Pitts has committed to play football at Coastal Carolina next fall. The Red Devils’ representative on the Touchstone Energy (North-South) Bowl joins former teammate Kadon Crawford in Conway.
Adams Dean has taken the reins of varsity football coach at Thornwell. I can’t imagine anyone better suited to get the Saints restarted. He coached under Chris Liner at Laurens and Greenwood and last year under Greg Porter with the Raiders.

John Gardner has his Clinton girls’ basketball team atop Region 3-2A and ranked second only to Andrew Jackson (Kershaw) in Class 2A by the S.C. Basketball Coaches Association. Tuesday’s 40-23 victory over Fairfield Central hoisted the Red Devils (14-4, 4-0) to a game edge over the Griffins (6-8, 3-1) entering Friday night’s game at Columbia.
McKenzie Clark scored 15 points and Bryanna Belton 12 as Clinton vanquished the Fairfield, 15-2, in the third quarter.
Tushawan Richardson’s 22 points were not enough as Fairfield Central took first in the region boys’ race with a 53-52 decision. Clinton is 9-6, 3-1 in the region, while the Griffins are 9-6 and 4-0.
The matchups in Laurens on Saturday between the Raiders and Red Devils are to be broadcast on WLBG (860 AM, 104.1 FM, wlbg.com) beginning at 5 p.m.

Armond Flood has the LDHS boys’ fortunes on the upswing in his third year at the helm.
The Raiders (15-6, 4-2 Region 1-4A) host Wren on Friday night (also on WLBG) after pounding Southside (5-14, 1-5), 59-44, on Tuesday.
The Raiders also won the girls’ game against the Greenville school, 32-21, behind Nyri Allen’s 16 points. Laurens is 9-11 and 3-3.
Shannon Forest swept Laurens Academy in basketball on Thursday night, with the girls winning, 31-13, and the boys, 50-21.
Sadie Bruyere led the girls (13-6) with five points. Garrett Murphy led the boys (6-13) with six.

Thornwell (3-7) defeated the Green Upstate Owls, 53-38, on Wednesday, led by Zaylen Washington with 18 points and K.J. Singleton with 14. The girls (4-8) prevailed, 45-19, as Ali Jeter and Kenli English each scored 10.
For the past month – briefly at Laurens County Hospital and then at Greenville Memorial and finally at Encompass Rehab Hospital – angels in human form have been repairing my abdomen and teaching me how to walk again.

Mostly, it’s up to me now. I’ve still got a lot of work to do. This I learned Thursday when I sat on the couch and needed three hours to build the strength to get up from it again. That’s called flunking the first exam.
With my shiny new walker, two weeks ago, I could make it about 15 yards. I’m good for, oh, maybe, 75. I can go up several stairs, but rails are a must. The muscle spasm in my left buttocks is mostly gone because I slept in my own bed. It wasn’t bad. I just had to push through it during rehab sessions. I tire easily and do not get along with hospital beds.

This morning I ate at Waffle House, then I went shopping for a stiff cushion. As luck would have it, another of my guardian angels, my nephew’s wife, Jessica, happened to be buying a 50 cents doll for her daughter when I hobbled into the hospice thrift store looking for a cushion for the couch. Instead, we found a perfect, cushioned chair I’m sitting in now. She and her eldest son Thomas, presently more more robust than I in the fifth grade, moved it in the house, and now I’m writing this. Ray brought me home from Greenville yesterday. I folded and put away the dirty clothes Jessica washed and dried for me overnight.

What I”ve got now is a realistic idea of how much better and stronger I’ve got to get. It’s going to be a while before I’m out taking photos and tallying stats. Exercises have helped a lot and will continue to do so.
Support the advertisers. They are all fine people who want their businesses associated with honest coverage of local sports. I appreciate them sticking with me as I get back up to speed.
In the off chance you’d like to read my novels and other books, they’re available on Amazon and many prominent bookseller sites.

You can read them on your phones and other devices for a modest cost. I make a bit more if you purchase the actual books, but what I mainly want is for folks to read them.
Illness has left me with some additional expenses.
The Latter Days is a baseball novel about a former player and manager, Clyde Kinlaw, trying to prove the game hasn’t passed him by. His proof is a raw talent named Taiquan Wattson.
Thanks for putting up with me.