Iron Horses hopeful for back-to-back hoop titles
The Philip Simmons High School boys’ basketball team lost some key players from last season’s squad, which posted a 19-6 record, including 10-0 in Region 6-AA play, its second region title in four years.
But coach Garrett Campbell’s team still has the talent, the work ethic, and the determination to be a key factor in the battle for regional supremacy during the 2025-26 season.
“It’s going to be a test,” Campbell said of the competition his team will face in the new year. “The targets are still on our backs. But we can win it again if we play up to our level.”
Campbell said the Burke Bulldogs, a program with a rich history, will provide the biggest challenge in the hunt for the Region 6-AA championship. The two schools will play at The Phil on Jan. 13 and then battle on Jan. 30 at Burke High School.
But there is plenty of basketball to play before those dates.
The Iron Horses opened the season with six victories in nine games, including a 51-45 overtime victory over Wando High School on Dec. 18. The impressive start also included the Iron Horses’ 100th victory in the program’s brief history, a 55-21 decision over Charleston Math & Science.
That’s even more impressive considering the top two players from last season, Blake Darby and Hudson Hatch, twin towers at 6-foot-9, are no longer with the Iron Horses. Darby, who averaged 9.1 points and 6.6 rebounds a game, graduated, while Hatch transferred to the Christ School in North Carolina.
It didn’t help that six of the basketball players got off to a late start because they played on the football team that went three games deep into the Class AA playoffs.
The Iron Horses took their lumps with back-to-back losses against state powers Cane Bay and Goose Creek, teams that were a combined 19-0 heading into action on Dec. 19.
The Iron Horses were scheduled to play Palmetto Christian on Dec. 19 and then compete in the Modie Risher Showcase on Dec. 27, 29, and 30, which is hosted by Burke. The opponents include Central Bucks South from Warrington, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina's Belton-Honea-Path and North Charleston high schools.
Then, it’s on to region play on Jan. 9 against Woodland High School.
The Iron Horses have an impressive nucleus of Jack Mevold, Hopper Afman, and Dylan Morris.
Mevold is 6-5 and can score inside, from medium range, and from 3-point land. He leads the team with 14.4 points and is statistically the most accurate shooter on the team, leading the Iron Horses with 54% from the field and 38% from behind the arc.
Afman has been steady as well with 11.1 points per game, with a team-best 5.7 rebounds per outing. He also leads the Iron Horses with 77% shooting from the foul line.
Morris, a senior, also averages double figures with 11 points per game. He’s a sharpshooter from long range. He hit 7 of 13 3-pointers in a Dec. 3 victory over Wando and is 20 for 60 on 3-point attempts in his first nine games of the season.