Playoff bound

March Madness is on the menu and Daniel Island will be well represented as both the boys’ and girls’ teams from Philip Simmons and Bishop England high schools qualified for postseason action.

 

The regular season was scheduled to conclude Feb. 6 and playoff seedings weren’t scheduled to be nailed down until the final day of regular-season hoops.

 

The Iron Horse girls won the Region 8-AAA championship while the Iron Horse boys are expected to be a second seed when the brackets are announced.

 

The Iron Horse boys began this week with a 13-9 record to again qualify for postseason action. Coach Garrett Campbell said his team is poised to make a deep run.

 

“We get to host a playoff game,” Campbell said. “Unfortunately we didn’t win the region. But we get to host a playoff game and that’s what you want. Win at home, get a couple upsets on the road and see what happens from there.”

 

Campbell said his team must block out the “one-and-done” mentality that can plague teams as February transitions to March.

 

“We don’t focus on that,” Campbell said. “You can’t play scared, thinking that your season can come to an end. We just have to play our game. I like our chances. We have Robert (Watson) and our other seniors. We just have to win at home to get things going.”

 

Watson became the fourth Iron Horse boy to reach 1,000 points. He also set the boys’ single game record with 36 points against South Florence.

 

The Iron Horse girls could host at least two playoff games after winning the Region 8-AAA title. Coach Dustin Williams’ squad began the week with an eight-game winning streak after opening the season with only three wins in its first 12 games.

 

Bishop England began the week with playoff spots locked up. Bishop coaches, Paul Runey and Bryan Grevey, both had a chance to reach milestones.

 

Runey, who coaches the girls’ squad, is just one victory away from 800 career victories. He will become only the second girls’ coach in state history to reach 800 wins. The other is Anne Long.

 

Grevey, who coaches the boys’ squad, began the week with 198 career wins.

 

The Bishop girls had their 20-game winning streak snapped by Oceanside Collegiate Academy. The two schools began the week tied for first place and faced a possible third game to determine the region champ.

 

The Bishop girls are no strangers to deep runs in the playoffs. The team has reached the state title game nine times in the last 12 seasons. They won six state championships.

   

WRESTLING

Philip Simmons High School won the Region 8-AAA wrestling championship with Alex Watson, Matt Spignardo and Bryce Smalls leading the way with gold-medal efforts.

 

Watson won the 115-pound division, Spignardo was champ at 140 pounds while Smalls was first at 192.

 

Second-place finishers included Sully Silbiger (108), Jimmy Chambers (134), Josh Gant (159) and Israel Alfaro (287).

 

Bronze medal winners include Zander Hubler (122), Jimmy Chambers (134), Noah Brund (146) and Michael Spignardo (167).