Iron Horse basketball gears up for region play

When it came time to travel for a recent holiday tournament, the Philip Simmons High School boys’ basketball team took the staycation approach.

 

In past years, coach Garrett Campbell and his squad traveled to the Rock Hill area to compete, to experience esprit de corps, and take in an NBA game.

 

This year, the Iron Horses headed to downtown Charleston to compete in the Modie Risher Classic, one of the most prestigious tourneys in the Lowcountry.

 

The Iron Horses posted a 2-1 record, opening play with a loss to T.L. Hanna High School. But they rebounded to defeat Airport High School and Central Bucks West out of Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

 

“It always has good talent,” said Campbell, whose team went 8-5 in the non-region part of the schedule. “We got to play some big schools. T.L. Hanna is Class AAAAA. And we got to play some talented teams. We won the last two games, which was something that we talked about. We wanted to have momentum heading into Region 6-AA play.”

 

The Iron Horses begin league play Jan. 10 with a trip to Woodland High School, which begins play this week with a 3-8 record.

 

Burke, which is 9-5, should battle the Iron Horses for the region crown. The other teams in the league went 10-38 in the first half of the season.

 

The Iron Horses are led by a pair of 6-9 players who score, rebound and dominate the paint: sophomore Hudson Hatch and senior Blake Darby.

 

Hatch leads the team in scoring with 10.8 points a game and tops the Iron Horses with 54 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from behind the 3-point line. He is second on the team with 6.9 boards per game.

 

Darby has impressive stats as well. He is second in scoring with 8.6 points and leads the team with 7.8 rebounds a game, and 0.8 blocked shots per contest. He is second with 52 percent shooting from 2-point range.

 

PSHS girls still growing

The Philip Simmons girls’ team has struggled in its first year under new coach Allen Gethers.

 

The Iron Horses became a Lowcountry power under former coach Dustin Williams, who guided the team to a 95-50 record and three region crowns in seven years at the school before resigning at the end of last season.

 

Experience, or lack of it, is the big reason for the Iron Horses’ 3-10 record at this stage of the season as they begin region 6-AA play Jan. 10 vs. Woodland, which is 2-8.

 

The team, which has lost three games in a row, has only two players with varsity experience after the lone senior on the team decided not to play early in the campaign. The team has struggled on offense, averaging 27.5 points per game.

 

Germany Moore is having a solid junior season by averaging 9.4 points per game, hitting 42 percent of her shots. She also leads the Iron Horses with 11.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals per contest.

 

Kenira Holmes is contributing 5.5 points and 8 rebounds per game.