Myrtle Beach Continues Late-Season Surge with Win over Georgetown
By Terry Massey
What a difference a month has made for the Myrtle Beach High School boys basketball team, and the next month could get even more interesting for the Seahawks.
Myrtle Beach beat Georgetown 63-56 on Tuesday, the Seahawks' seventh victory in their last eight games after starting the season just the opposite at 1-7.
/media/images/Myrtle_Beach_Georgetown_boys_basketball_020910_-_01.jpgDespite missing half the team for a football season that lasted into December's state championship game, learning a new system from a first-year head coach and facing a tough schedule that included the Beach Ball Classic, the Seahawks have improved to .500 for the first time this season with a record of 10-10.
”We're playing a lot better than we were a month or so ago,” said Myrtle Beach Head Coach Craig Martin. “I would love to go back and play some of those teams we lost to early in the year because we're a much better basketball team than we were then. We're still not there, but if we keep improving we may have a shot.”
The “shot” Martin’s team wants to take is at a Class AAA state title, a goal that seemed unattainable back in early January. But the Seahawks heated up just in time for region play, which is when it really counts in terms of the state playoffs. The Seahawks are 7-2 in Region VII-AAA play and were scheduled to face North Myrtle Beach on Friday for second place in the region.
”I always felt like we were going to get it together but it took us a while,” said Seahawks junior point guard Everett Golson, who led Myrtle Beach to the state title as a freshman. “At first I don't think everybody was buying into what the new coach was doing, everybody was sort of playing for themselves. But Coach Martin has done a good job of bringing everybody together and it's starting to show on the court. Now that we've played 20 games, we're a different team than we were.”
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Golson scored half of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Seahawks to victory, including going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the decisive period. The Seahawks connected on 21 of 29 from the charity stripe on the night to hold off several hard charges by the Bulldogs, who fell to 4-5 in region play.
The Seahawks' final margin of victory was their biggest lead of the night, falling behind early when the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run in the first quarter. But Golson made a breakaway dunk that electrified the crowd and the Seahawks, who took their first lead on a put-back by Dallas Goodman midway through the second.
After leading 31-26 at the half, Georgetown put together a 9-2 to tie it up at 33-33 in the third period, but that was as close as the Bulldogs got. Ironically, it was a missed dunk by Golson early in the fourth quarter with Myrtle Beach clinging to a 42-41 lead that lit a fire under the Seahawks to get hot and close out the win.
/media/images/Myrtle_Beach_Georgetown_boys_basketball_020910_-_09.jpgAfter his breakaway slam attempt bounced out of the rim and out of bounds, Golson went to work from a greater distance from the basket, especially from the free-throw line. But after his baseline jumper and dish to Goodman (one of his eight assists on the night), the Seahawks took a 58-51 lead with one minute remaining.
”We played our best when the game was on the line and that's the mark of a good team,” Golson said. “It doesn't matter how you start, it's how you finish.”
Which is true of Tuesday's game and the Seahawks' season. They can claim a winning record for the first time this season with a win over the rival Chiefs, and earn a No. 2 seed going into the playoffs. The records cease to matter at that point – as long as they win, they are in the hunt for a state championship.
”I knew with it being a new system and a new coach that it was going to take time, and it has,” Martin said. “In fact, it still is. There's still room for improvement. But the good news, and I told our kids this tonight, is we still haven't played our best basketball yet. Hopefully that will come in the playoffs.”
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