By MONTE DUTTON And away they go (Monte Dutton photo). Click here. ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A college basketball tournament has much in common with a living organism. Mostly new sets of fans file in and out, the Harrah’s Cherokee Center forever breathing with new life.Sitting at my seat, often cracking wise with colleague John Hooper, …
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Slow starts back home
By MONTE DUTTON Gardner-Webb coach Jeremy Luther took his medicine in Johnson City (Monte Dutton photo). Click here. Being away on my great basketball road trip spared me an inglorious period back home.It was sorrowful in Johnson City, Tenn., too. (I can’t say those three words without thinking of “Wagon Wheel.”) I was moved by …
Paladins face tough SoCon opener
PJay Smith Jr. (Furman photo) Click here. ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- When Furman takes on Samford on Saturday night in the Ingles SoCon Basketball Championships, this much is certain.It’s going to be aggressive.The Bulldogs are the reigning champions. They are seeded fourth, the Paladins fifth. Furman (23-8) won both regular-season games. Both were testy. In both, …
Free throws were few and far between for Blue Hose
By MONTE DUTTON Kaleb Scott works the paint (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- It wasn’t the shot selection. That was excellent. It was inaccuracy at the free-throw line that ran Presbyterian College’s Hose out of the Hercules Tires Big South Basketball Championships.Shooting was where the rubber met the road. Or didn’t. …
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Big South opener goes to Swift, Bulldogs
Kishyah Anderson scored 31 points, but it was not enough (PC photo). Click here. Presbyterian entered the Hercules Tires Big South Championships as the defending champion, but that was 2023-24, and PC pulled off that upset – or those upsets, three of them -- as the fifth seed.In the opening game this year, matching the …
Red Devils fall a game shy in Florence
Bryanna Belton (photo courtesy John Clayton) Click here. The third time was the charm for the Shamrocks on Tuesday evening at Florence Center.Eau Claire, which fell in its two Region 3-2A games against Clinton, prevailed in the one that determined the Upstate championship, 41-30.The Shamrocks frustrated any Red Devil hopes of a fourth-quarter comeback by …
For Clinton girls, it’s a different kind of three
John Gardner's Red Devils look for a third victory over Eau Claire (Monte Dutton photo). Click here. Inevitably, when one team – any team – sweeps another in a season and plays it again in playoffs, the same cliché is going to invoked.It’s hard to beat a team three times.When region rivals play the second …
Continue reading For Clinton girls, it’s a different kind of three
Smith finds nothing but net at Wofford
By MONTE DUTTON The Terriers couldn't contain PJay Smith (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. A trip to Spartanburg is seldom easy for the Furman Paladins, whether it’s basketball, football or club rugby.As head men’s basketball coach Bob Richey said later, “We knew [Wofford wasn’t] going away.”The final 1.1 seconds of the Paladins’ 78-75 victory over …
Blue Hose to hit Big South tournament on a hot streak
By MONTE DUTTON (PC photo) Click here. At one time, Presbyterian lost seven of eight Big South men’s basketball games. How times have changed.Entering this week’s Hercules Tires Big South Championships in Johnson City, Tenn, and coming on the heels of Saturday’s 68-57 victory over Gardner-Webb (10-19, 5-11 Big South) at Templeton Center, PC (14-17, …
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Furman women pull overtime upset at Chattanooga
Tate Walters (Furman photo) Click here. If Furman is to make an unlikely run in the women’s basketball bracket at the Ingles SoCon Championship, the Paladins will need to put together more performances like Thursday evening’s 74-70 road upset at Chattanooga.Tate Walters converted two free throws to tie the game and followed it up with …
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Nightrider's Lament 