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South Pointe, Catawba Ridge clash for top of Region 3-4A; all HS scores, SC rankings

Waymond Jenerette was gone.

The senior guard saw that his defender was face-guarding him on a baseline out of bounds play with less than two minutes left in overtime. So he dashed toward his basket, received a beautiful pass from senior backcourt-mate Quan Peterson — and slammed home a one-handed dunk, flushing any chances of a Catawba Ridge win while doing so.

That dunk was part of South Pointe’s 12-4 run in overtime against Region 3-4A rival Catawba Ridge that ultimately delivered the Stallions of Rock Hill a 54-45 win on their home court on Friday night. The win over Catawba Ridge (18-4, 3-2 Region 3-4A) — a top-10 4A South Carolina basketball team — gives South Pointe (10-5, 5-0) a huge advantage coming down the stretch in region play and paves the way for a likely No. 1 seed come playoff time.

“We just played against a very good team,” South Pointe head coach Melvin Watson told The Herald postgame. “They’re well-coached. They execute. They run a good offense. They’re going to have success in the playoffs.”

The boys’ game was close throughout, neither team separating itself much in large part because both teams struggled scoring. But South Pointe has looked good in close games this year: Some of that is its state championship pedigree from last season shining through.

“This group is starting to turn the corner and get some of that (championship confidence),” Watson said. “We’re not quite there yet. We’re working toward that. ... At first, we started the season at 5-2, dropping some games that we should’ve won. We then went on a three-game losing streak and were 5-5. Now we’ve won our last five games.

“This is the time when you want to see your team trending in the right direction.”

And it appears the Stallions are.

South Pointe was led by Jenerette (14 points), Jaden Hicklin (14) and Corinthinan Finch (9). The team also had five players finish with three points — Chris McCullough, Demari Kendrick, Quan Peterson, Jakhari Webb and Treven Raymond.

Grant Lovette, with 17 points, led the Copperheads in scoring. Zyan Hager finished with 11.

The South Pointe girls also won a close one over their Catawba Ridge counterparts, 76-65, avenging their only region loss of the season in the process on Friday night. They did so by hitting timely shots, mitigating an up-tempo Copperhead backcourt — the Stallions played a box-and-one on freshman Skyla Tuthill and limited her to 15 points — and by allowing for the emergence of junior forward Zaria Bell, who finished with a season-high 20 points.

“She was really efficient tonight,” South Pointe head coach Stephanie Butler-Graham said of Bell postgame. She smiled when talking about how far her post player has come. “I think the sky’s the limit for her. She can completely dominate on both ends when she decides to.”

South Pointe (12-7, 4-1 Region 3-4A) pulled away in the second quarter thanks to a 21-7 run to end the half and never looked back. Catawba Ridge (17-2, 4-1 Region 3-4A) and the Stallions — two teams that’ll make some noise in the 4A playoffs come late February and early March — are set up to be co-region champions barring any late-season upsets.

South Pointe saw seven scorers on Friday night: In addition to Bell, Shakiya Nichols had 17, Victoria Starr Morris had 16, Jacinda Orr had 11, Jatiyah Shannon had six, Najah Lane had five and Taylor Stehmeirer had one.

The Copperheads, in addition to Tuthill, saw key contributions from Makailah Davis (17 points), Tatum Postel (13 points and four second-half threes to keep the game within arm’s reach), Brielle Windisch (10), Morgan Davis (6) and Addison Cunningham (4).

Here’s what else you need to know. Check The Herald’s website for Wednesday, Tuesday and Monday scores, too.

Girls basketball scores this week

Thursday

Fairfield Central 56, Chester 18

Andrew Jackson 49, Cheraw 15

Lewisville 48, Governor’s School 9

Friday

Clover 41, Gaffney 34

Rock Hill 52, Spring Valley 42

Northwestern 50, Ridge View 40

Boys basketball scores this week

Thursday

Andrew Jackson 72, Cheraw 57

Governor’s School 64, Lewisville 57

Friday

Clover 54, Gaffney 32

Northwestern 54, Ridge View 46

Spring Valley 50, Rock Hill 38

CA Johnson 70, Lewisville 33

Girls basketball region standings

Region 3-5A: Clover 5-0, 14-5; Gaffney 2-2, 13-6; Fort Mill 1-2, 7-14; Nation Ford 1-3, 5-15; Boiling Springs 1-3, 6-12.

Region 4-5A: Rock Hill 5-0, 18-3; Northwestern 4-1, 14-5; Spring Valley 2-3, 11-9; Ridge View 1-4 5-13; Blythewood 0-4, 0-15.

Region 3-4A: Catawba Ridge 4-1, 17-2; South Pointe 4-1, 12-7; Lancaster 1-2, 9-6; York 1-2, 6-13; Indian Land 0-4, 5-10.

Region 4-3A: Keenan 6-0, 17-2; Lower Richland 2-2, 15-4; Fairfield Central 3-2, 11-3; Mid-Carolina 0-3, 9-6; Chester 0-4, 1-13.

Region 4-2A: Andrew Jackson 6-0, 13-3; Chesterfield 7-1, 14-2; Buford 4-2, 5-6; Cheraw 3-5, 5-10; York Prep 1-4, 3-9; Pageland Central 0-4, 1-9; North Central 0-5, 4-9.

Region 2-1A: McBee 4-0, 9-4; Lewisville 2-1, 3-9; Great Falls 1-1, 1-7; Governor’s School 0-2, 0-4; CA Johnson 0-3, 0-8.

Boys basketball region standings

Region 3-5A: Fort Mill 3-0, 15-4; Clover 4-1, 15-7; Gaffney 2-2 8-11; Nation Ford 1-3, 6-13; Boiling Springs 0-4, 11-11.

Region 4-5A: Ridge View 4-1, 12-10; Blythewood 3-1, 9-10; Northwestern 3-2, 14-5; Spring Valley 2-3, 10-12; Rock Hill 0-5, 9-10.

Region 3-4A: South Pointe 5-0, 10-5, Catawba Ridge 3-2, 18-4; Lancaster 1-2, 15-5, York 0-2, 3-12; Indian Land 0-3, 4-10.

Region 4-3A: Keenan 5-0, 12-10; Lower Richland 2-1, 3-9; Chester 1-2, 4-9; Mid-Carolina 0-2, 2-15; Fairfield Central 0-3, 2-10.

Region 4-2A: York Prep 6-0, 17-0; Pageland Central 4-2, 8-6; Andrew Jackson 4-3, 13-7; Cheraw 4-5, 7-16; North Central 2-3, 9-4; Chesterfield 2-6, 7-9; Buford 1-4, 5-10.

Region 2-1A: Great Falls 3-0, 8-7; Governor’s School 3-1, 6-2; CA Johnson 3-1, 8-6; McBee 1-3, 1-12; Lewisville 0-5, 1-12.

South Carolina Basketball Coaches Poll Top-10 rankings (girls)

5A: 1. Rock Hill, 2. Sumter, 3. Lexington, 4. Dorman, 5. Dutch Fork, 6. Summerville, 7. Cane Bay, 8. Stratford, 9. Stall, 10. JL Mann.

4A: 1. Westside, 2. Catawba Ridge, 3. North Augusta, 4. Aiken, 5. Westwod, 6. South Florence, 7. Bluffton, 8. AC Flora, 9. North Myrtle Beach, 10. Greer.

3A: 1. Keenan, 2. Blue Ridge, 3. Camden, 4. Lower Richland, 5. Southside, 6. Emerald, 7. Orangeburg-Wilkinson, 8. Mid-Carolina, 9. Clinton, 10. Wren.

2A: 1. Blacksburg, 2. Christ Church, 3. Gray Collegiate, 4. Silver Bluff, 5. Andrew Jackson, 6. Phillip Simmons, 7. Saluda, 8. Chesterfield, 9. Latta, 10. Barnwell.

1A: 1. Military Magnet, 2. East Clarendon, 3. Denmark-Olar, 4. High Point Academy, 5. Lake View, 6. Cross, 7. Calhoun Falls, 8. Southside Christian, 9. McBee, 10. Whale Branch.

South Carolina Basketball Coaches Poll Top-10 rankings (boys)

5A: 1. Dorman, 2. Riverside, 3. Fort Dorchester, 4. Ridge View, 5. Byrnes, 6. Sumter, 7. Conway, 8. Fort Mill, 9. Cane Bay, 10. Blythewood.

4A: 1. AC Flora, 2. Irmo, 3. Hartsville, 4. Wilson, 5. Travelers Rest, 6. West Florence, 7. South Pointe, 8. Greenville, 9. Catawba Ridge, 10. Lancaster.

3A: 1. Orangeburg-Wilkinson, 2. Seneca, 3. Crestwood, 4. Blue Ridge, 5. Union County, 6. Brooklyn-Cayce, 7. Dillon, 8. Powdersville, 9. Fox Creek, 10. Oceanside Collegiate.

2A: 1. York Prep, 2. Wade Hampton (H), 3. Phillip Simmons, 4. Landrum, 5. Gray Collegiate, 6. Christ Church, 7. Woodland, 8. Andrew Jackson, 9. Abbeville, 10. Saluda.

1A: 1. Scotts Branch, 2. Calhoun County, 3. Baptist Hill, 4. Carvers Bay, 5. Denmark-Olar, 6. Hannah-Pamplico, 7. Hemingway, 8. McCormick, 9. Great Falls, 10. Southside Christian.