ECHS Christmas Tournament
Host Gator teams set to battle
for 3rd straight championships
Clarence Ganus
East Columbus boys coach
Nathan Faulk
South Columbus boys coach
Michael Powell
West Columbus boys coach
By DAN BISER
Sports Editor
The East Columbus High School Christmas Basketball Tournament will be making its sixth annual run Wednesday and Thursday with the host Gator squads both hoping to come away with their third straight tournament titles.
While the ECHS girls team appears to have a favorable shot at recapturing their division championship, the Gator boys team appears to face a much bigger challenge in defending the title.
Coach Karlyn Stephens’ ECHS girls team is off to one of its best starts in school history with wins seven of its first eight games. The only loss came against 4A Wilmington Laney,, a team it had beaten earlier
The East Columbus boys, who are undertaking a rebuilding year after winning the Waccamaw Conference championship in each of the past two seasons, stand at 2-6.
“We’re better than our record,” said ECHS coach Clarence Ganus. “Our main concern right now is getting more consistency and more intensity in our offense. Defensively, we’ve done a pretty good job. We just need to start playing a more complete game.”
West Columbus High returns to the tournament field this year, and Coach Michael Powell’s WCHS boys team already owns two wins over East Columbus this season as their record stands at 6-2. An up-and-coming South Columbus team (2-3) and Johnsonville, S.C. round out the boys field.
Along with East Columbus, the girls division also includes South Columbus (3-2), West Columbus (2-6) and Loris, S.C.
All games will be played at the ECHS gym.
Daily admission will be $5.
The tournament schedule follows.
Wednesday, Dec. 26
3 p.m. - West Columbus vs. Loris (girls)
4:30. - West Columbus vs. Johnsonville (boys)
6 - East Columbus vs. South Columbus (girls)
7:30 - East Columbus vs. South Columbus (girls).
Thursday, Dec.27
3 p.m. - Girls third-place game,
4:30 - Boys third-place game.
6 - Girls championship game,
7:30 - Boys championship game.