The boys high school basketball season might be more exciting than ever before among Lowcountry area high schools. Whether they’re big, small, renowned, climbing or in many cases realigned, teams in and around the East Cooper area think 2025 could be notable for a variety of reasons.
Here is a look at five schools and their head coaches, both new and veteran, and their outlooks for the upcoming season.
WANDO WARRIORS
Building is the word that probably best describes the Wando boys’ basketball team. Whether it’s recent seasons, team tradition, not-so-distant team history or recurrent leadership, the 5A Warriors under third-year head coach Calvin Craft are looking at 2024-25 as a year that could define their future for at least the rest of the decade.
“We are very excited about this upcoming season,” said Craft. “We feel great about a large and strong senior class who will be counted on to lead the way.”
The Warriors return two starters and eight others from last year’s team, which finished 17-10 and made the second round of the playoffs for the second straight year.
“That was the best season at Wando since 2014-2015’s team won 20 games, after returning 90% of the roster who won the state championship the previous year,” Craft said. “We are very determined to build on the last two seasons where we have done things that hadn’t been done since those great teams from 10+ years ago.”
Wando begins the season Nov. 25-27 against River Bluff in the annual Tip Off at the Dam tournament at Chapin High School.
“River Bluff has won a state championship in the last five years and will present a very stiff challenge right out of the gate,” Craft said. “Other teams in that tournament include Dutch Fork, Chapin, A.C. Flora, Lakewood, Batesburg-Leesville and Cross Creek from Georgia. Our first regular season game will be against local rival Bishop England on Dec. 3.”
He pointed out that the Warriors didn’t begin well last season before bouncing back in the winter; this time, he is counting on senior strength to lead the way early.
Senior guards Tait Horine and Owen Schafer, returning starters who were selected to participate in the SCBCA Elite Camp in October, are expected to put up a strong defensive front.
Three-year veteran forward Harrison Smith and two-year letterman forward Jackson Connelly will be relied upon to crash the boards and start the team’s fast breaks on turnovers and rebounds in the paint.
Utility players Kaden Ealahan and Hayden Miller combine ball-handling skills with shooting and defense. Guard Cam Longdon is expected to see more playing time and a bigger team role.
And forward Corbin Martens, a multi-sport athlete with potential to play on the collegiate level, can shoot the three and score and rebound inside, often playing “bigger than his 6’1” frame would suggest,” Craft said.
All of which will be needed to continue building as a region power eying an eventual state final.
“Our region continues to be very competitive and offers a tough challenge each and every night,” Craft said. “Cane Bay is the reigning region champion, and Goose Creek and Berkeley return much of their playoff squads from last season. Lucy Beckham joins our conference after two strong seasons at the AAAA level. But we always feature a tough schedule here at Wando, and this year will be no different.”
LUCY BECKHAM BENGALS
Wait and see – it sounds both ominous and uncertain, but the Lucy Beckham Bengals first-year head boys’ basketball coach Marquise Pointer is using this approach to not only improve on the team’s last two seasons, but eventually lead them to state.
“Understanding the growth and process of building a team is the first thing that has to happen to build a winner,” said Pointer, a former standout player at the College of Charleston. “Team chemistry and bonding are very important to have up front; the path to winning starts afterward.”
Pointer’s approach comes after many years of playing and coaching basketball.
He was a member of the Arkansas Jonesboro High School state champion team his junior year, after which his playing got him noticed and signed by the College of Charleston.
In his time with CofC, Pointer gained recognition early on by being named to the 2016 Coastal Athletic Association All-Rookie Team. He helped lead the Cougars to four straight winning seasons, one CAA title in 2018-19 and a berth in the NCAA tournament that same year.
After graduating as a studio art major with a focus on photography, Pointer began coaching with the Lowcountry Storm, a local club for sixth graders to age 17 who are interested in basketball.
Then came May 2024 when he was tapped to coach the Bengals. Despite having another closer-to-home opportunity at hand, Pointer chose Lucy Beckham partly because many of the people there already wanted him to be the new coach.
“The community and kids seemed to want me to have this new position even more than I did,” Pointer said. “Some of them knew me before with the Lowcountry Storm, and sort of lobbied for me to come here.”
His arrival coincides with that of girls coach Jared Curry – and they both are determined to give the school’s home game atmosphere a complete overhaul.
“I’m looking into getting a DJ to come to our games to pump up the crowd, to get choir students involved in singing the national anthem and get students in the media office involved with photos and social media videos,” he said.
As for his players, Pointer said they have shown potential by posting a 17-11 mark last season. “But I want to focus them more on defense, to be more physical and spend more time getting stronger in the weight room,” Pointer said. “We’ve been known to be the smallest team against opponents, and I want to change that.”
And with good reason as their AAAAA Region 7 opponents include Summerville, Cane Bay, Goose Creek and Stratford.
Seniors Micah Jamieson and Perry Taylor are expected to set the standard for both the season and future teams. “I coached Micah during club ball early on and he knows my coaching style,” Pointer said. “Both he and Perry are workhorses on the floor. Perry leads by example.”
When asked about an eye to an eventual state title, Pointer said the team – and the school – is still several steps from that goal.
“Once we become more defensive and eventually attain a 20-win season, then we’ll talk about reaching state,” he said. “But I am super excited about the new beginning, and ready to see where it takes us.”
BISHOP ENGLAND BATTLING BISHOPS
Winning a state title – the often-elusive goal of every high school basketball team and coach. Even more so for the Bishop England boys, as their last and only state title so far came in 1963 during the Kennedy presidency.
New head coach Daniel Eykyn is looking to change that – from the opening tip of the 2024-25 season until the team can at last hang another long-awaited banner.
“And this past season, we lost eight talented seniors,” Eykyn said. “So our biggest initial challenge will be acclimating guys to the varsity level.”
Other components will include lots of patience, effort and home support – the latter of which the team already has. “BE home games have been known for student and alumni support for decades,” Eykyn said. “I can remember people being turned away during the height of the BE and Porter-Gaud rivalry when I was playing. In recent years, BE has so many new and old rivals as well as schools in close proximity – the atmosphere is always great.”
Senior guards Lang Tarrant and Caleb Watson, senior forward and guard Andrew Putignano and junior forward and center Drew Gallagher are expected to lead the way, especially during the tough games – and right now, Eykyn sees all opposition as tough.
“We start the season in the Riptide Classic tournament, so opponents are to-be-decided,” Eykyn said. “Obviously, any team would like to set the tone early. So we look forward to building as the season progresses and being at our strongest during region play.”
That play is going to be in a whole new region, as the Battling Bishops have been moved up to Region 6 AAAA – a stronghold for the likes of Goose Creek, Bluffton, Hilton Head, Beaufort and May River in Beaufort County.
This means that the BE teams, traditionally at the 2A level, will not only be competing against much larger schools and having to travel considerably farther distances for away games, but winning against theses new opponents will be a challenge for “the entire athletic program as a whole,” Eykyn said.
Which also means that getting back to a state title game for boys’ basketball could take even more time and patience.
In its 110-year history, BEHS has accumulated more than 150 state titles across 22 sports – with at least one sport running the table every year since the 1996-97 school year. But boys’ basketball has the lone, and largely forgotten, banner from 1963 – which ironically was the school’s first athletics title.
Six previous teams, including the 2020 and 2021 squads, came within one game of the state final. But with region realignment, it’s almost like going back to square one.
“And with losing so many seniors from last year, we won’t have a final roster until tryouts in November,” Eykyn said. “But as a program, we look to continue to build on a rich BE basketball tradition in the Lowcountry. The ultimate goal is another state title.”
PHILIP SIMMONS IRON HORSES
Closer seems to be the status and direction of the Philip Simmons boys’ basketball team. If recent years offer any indication of their future, the Iron Horses could soon have a state final in their sights. “We haven’t been to a state final yet, but that’s our next goal,” said eight-year head coach Tommy Campbell.
The Iron Horses finished 15-11 last season, losing in the second round of the playoffs. They have made the playoffs five out of the last seven seasons. But there has always been a missing ingredient – nothing Campbell can yet put his finger on, but which he is always seeking to add.
For example, his best team so far was 2021-22 when the Iron Horses posted a mark of 25-4 and were ranked as high as No.3 in SC AA. “But we lost in the third round on the road,” Campbell said.
In 2022-23, despite holding Dreher High to only 34 points in a first-round playoff game, the Iron Horses still lost by five with their worst offensive showing of the season.
And last February, after beating Georgetown by a whopping 31 points in the first round, they lost by 11 in the second round to Lower Richland. “So our outlook for 2024-25 is to maintain our standard of winning and being an elite team in the Lowcountry,” Campbell said.
Doing so means getting past December. The Iron Horses will be tested early and often, opening with rival Hanahan; perennial powerhouse First Baptist; a rejuvenated Wando; and a big and physical Goose Creek.
And, whether good or bad, Philip Simmons will be missing one opponent on its schedule that fans have come to look forward to. “Our main rival is Bishop England, but due to extenuating circumstances (region realignment), we are not playing them this year,” Campbell said. “We tend to have a good season when we beat them; unfortunately, we won’t get that chance this year.”
They will be seeing plenty of Hanahan, Wando, Berkeley and Woodland – who Campbell views as their toughest opponents in a tough region. “And we lost eight seniors last year,” he said, “but are really excited about our returning group paired with a few new players.”
Key contributors will include:
- Senior guard Corbin Driggers – the team’s main ball handler who can also score in multiple ways.
- Senior guard Gannon Barton – a drive-and-dish or shoot player who can keep defenses guessing.
- Kolten Kellermann – a two-sport athlete who often scores around the rim and plays defense as if it is a sin to give up a basket.
- This is a rebuilding year in the sense that we lost a lot,” Campbell said. “But we are confident that it will be a really successful season.”
OCEANSIDE LANDSHARKS
There is an old saying that close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and, if you’re old enough to remember them, drive-in movies.
For the Oceanside Collegiate Academy boys’ basketball team, they are now so close to winning a state title that from the coaches to the youngest player right down to even the most casual fan, everyone at OCA is anticipating that the 2024-25 season could at last be their year.
“We’ve made the state playoffs every year since my arrival here in 2018,” said head coach Quinton Hollis, whose team was moved up to Class 3A.
They also made it to the state championship the last past two seasons – losing both times to Gray Collegiate – by 10 points in 2023, and by four in 2024.
But not good enough for a team that Hollis said is now “hungrier than ever.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time together bonding off the court and becoming a family,” he said. “We are looking to return to the state championship game and end the season as the No.1 team in 3A.”
Integral to that goal will be the play of four key seniors:
- Point guard Gabe Riesgo
- Guard Tyrek Dawson
- Guard Carson Jones
- Forward Drew Swyt
Hollis added that along with their team leadership and experience, OCA will return 10 veterans, plus two juniors and the addition of one freshman.
Hollis said he’ll need them all to stay healthy to battle the likes of Hanahan, North Charleston, Orangeburg-Wilkinson and as yet unnamed opponents in the MLK Bash Jan. 20 at Eau Claire High School.
And that doesn’t count Lucy Beckham, James Island, Pinewood and Lucy Beckham again to open the season. “These first four games are vital to our season and early success,” Hollis said. “These teams play hard and are well coached.”
But Hollis would rather be facing a tough schedule than having to start over with another school. In May of this year, Oceanside very nearly came to an end when its sponsoring district, the Charter Institute at Erskine College, revoked the school’s charter – barely eight years after launching. In June, the Institute reversed its decision and in July, the school’s charter was transferred to the Limestone Charter Association, allowing Hollis and other coaches to prepare for the upcoming season.
It was a decision too close for comfort for Hollis and the entire school. So now he focuses on how lucky OCA is to have all the tough opponents. “In our brief history, to me it seems that Lucy Beckham and North Charleston have become our rivals,” he said. “Those games are always packed and physical. And although we own the overall record on each team, it’s always a dogfight.”
When asked to name his best season and toughest annual opponent, he said, “Every season is the best season – every year’s team is different, and I accept the challenge. To me every team is the strongest competition. We don’t take any of them for granted.”
By L. C. Leach III
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