Battle of the Gators
Spring Creek upsets East Columbus

KENANSVILLE – The 50-year-old confines of Kenan Auditorium were not kind to the East Columbus Gator basketball teams in their state 1A high school playoff openers last week.

On Wednesday, the Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference runnerup ECHS girls fell to Wallace- Rose Hill 59-41 with Lady Gator center Angelica Moore leaving the game in the first quarter with a torn ACL.

On Thursday, the Waccamaw Conference champion Gator boys team fell victim to poor foul shooting and numerous turnovers in a 75-67 upset loss at the hands of Spring Creek.
The loss snapped the Gators 17-game winning streak and kept them from gaining a 20-win season as they closed with a 19-6 record. East Columbus had gone into the game ranked seventh among state 1A teams.

East Columbus, which managed a 28-25 halftime lead, fell behind by 12 early in the fourth quarter but battled back to within a point 63-62 with 2-1/2 minutes remaining. However, Spring Creek rode the play of Dalreese Bell, Josh Wright and Daniel Raeford on 12-5 stretch run. The victory evened the Spring Creek Gators record at 14-14 and put them into Saturday’s sectional final against Lejeune.

Jerry Moore scored 22 points, including three 3-point baskets, to lead East Columbus. B.J. Patrick tallied 12, Odell Hampton garnered 11 and Cameron Spears had nine. Moore, Hampton and Spears keyed the Gators’ fourth-quarter comeback bid, cutting Spring Creek’s 12-point lead to one in just over three minutes.

“We were right on the verge of stepping up and taking it but they came up with a couple of baskets off some offensive rebounds and we weren’t able to get a couple of shots to fall when we really needed them,” said Gator coach Mark Bridgers.

Bridgers said that poor shooting, mainly from the foul line, and inconsistencies in just about all other areas were reasons for the loss.

“We just couldn’t seem to get ourselves settled into the game,” Bridgers said. “When we got a lead, we couldn’t take care of it. We weren’t alert to a lot of things and didn’t seem to have a whole lot of intensity. As the game wore on, you could see Spring Creek’s confidence and momentum building.”

All five Spring Creek starters scored in double figures with Bell tallying 20, including three big baskets in his team’s final surge. Wright hit for 17 while Raeford had a big game under the boards with 14 points. Cliff Wilson and Daniel Chewning each scored 11.

Coach Sonny Kilpatrick’s Spring Creek squad opened the season at 4-10 but has gone 10-4 since then.

Bridgers said he was proud of his East Columbus team’s season-long effort despite the disappointing finish.

“I’m proud of all of them,” Bridgers said. “The kids have accomplished a lot this year and we’ve had a good season. We lose three good seniors but we have everybody else coming back.”

SPRING CREEK (75): Wilson 11, Chewning 11, Langston 2, Bell 20, Wright 17, Raeford 14.

EAST COLUMBUS (67): Moore 22, Patrick 12, Hampton 11, Spears 9, Graham 2, Baldwin 6, Freeman 3, Waddell 2.