All four area basketball squads bound for playoffs

Are you ready for some madness? March Madness, that is.

 

The South Carolina High School League’s state basketball playoffs are set to commence. The good news, if you follow local hoops, is all four Daniel Island area teams qualified for the playoffs, which culminate the weekend of March 3-4 with state championship games in five classifications. The state title games will be held on the campus of USC Aiken.

 

The Philip Simmons boys and the Bishop England girls both won region championships.

 

The Iron Horse boys knocked off Woodland over the weekend to avoid a play-in game vs. the Wolverines. Coach Garrett Campbell’s squad owns a 23-3 record, including 10-0 in Region 6-AA play. They put a 12-game winning streak on the line when they host Silver Bluff Feb. 17 at “The Phil.”

 

The Iron Horses play solid defense at one end, and then work for the best shot on the other end, and one of the top offensive threats is senior Miles Haight. He looked like a sure thing to score 1,000 career points until the COVID-19 pandemic shortened last season’s schedule. But he’s had some big games and is just 30 points away from the milestone. He could reach it in the second round. But first, the Iron Horses must take care of business in Round 1. Haight enters the playoffs averaging a team-best 19.2 points, 11 assists and six rebounds per contest.

 

The Bishop girls wrapped up yet another region championship, claiming the Region 8-AAA title with a 10-0 record to push their conference winning streak to 146 games to earn a No. 1 seed. The Bishops host Manning on Feb. 17 at Father O’Brien Gymnasium.

 

The Philip Simmons girls begin the Class AA playoffs with a seven-game winning streak to finish the regular season with a 14-3 record. The Iron Horse girls hosted Barnwell on Feb. 16. The Warhorses enter the game with a 7-5 record, including 2-3 in Region 5-AA. (Game wasn’t played by presstime.)

 

The Lady Iron Horses lost 1,000-point scorer Kylee Kellermann to a knee injury, but the team still has talent on board. Junior Kennedy Rivers also has reached the 1,000-point career milestone while Zaire Mack has picked up some of the scoring lost when Kellermann was injured.

 

The Iron Horses posted a 39-28 record in their first three seasons of play under coach Dustin Williams. The squad has taken it to the next level the past two seasons, with a combined 24-6 record. They won two playoff games last winter, but lost to Silver Bluff in the Final Four.

 

The Bishop England boys are the only team of the four that has to hit the road for a first-round game. The Bishops, who have won three of their last four games to finish the regular season, travel to play Lakewood on Feb. 16. Lakewood enters with a two-game losing streak and is 14-9 overall. (Game wasn’t played by presstime.)

 

Cole Alexander leads the Bishops with 12.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Elliot Sanders is averaging 10.2 points per game while grabbing 3.6 rebounds.