Seahawks Drop Beach Ball Classic Opener
By Terry Massey
The Myrtle Beach High School basketball team got a big taste of what the Seahawks dished out on the football field all season in Saturday night's Beach Ball Classic opener.
Just three weeks after playing for the Class AAA state championship in football, many of the Seahawks are still making the transition to basketball - and it showed against Concord (N.C.).
The Spiders blitzed the Seahawks out of the gym with an 89-54 victory. It was the kind of lopsided loss the Seahawks were used to dealing out to opponents on the gridiron.
"It's been a difficult situation because we didn't get a lot of our players until the season had already started and we're still trying to learn what we're supposed to be doing," said first-year Myrtle Beach coach Craig Martin. "We just don't have our basketball legs or minds yet."
The Seahawks tried to hang with the Spiders early when Everett Golson, who led Myrtle Beach to the state title game as the quarterback, hit an early 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 4-3. It was as close as the Seahawks got to the lead all night.
Concord used its quick-strike offense, similar to the spread attack the Seahawks used in football to blow out foes all season. But they couldn't go step for step on the basketball court with the Spiders, who took advantage of fast-break opportunities and forced numerous turnovers with their full-court press.
"They played the style of ball we want to play, but obviously they did it a lot better than we did," Martin said. "We're just going to keep working hard in practice until we get there, and we're going to get there."
After Steven Cobb, who played tight end and linebacker for the Seahawks, hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 14-10, the Spiders went on a 20-5 run to take a 34-15 lead. Concord went to the locker room at halftime with a 44-19 lead and never looked back.
The Seahawks did get a small moral victory by holding the Spiders below the 100-point mark. Concord took its largest lead at 87-45 with 6:41 remaining but brought in the second team to allow Myrtle Beach to close the game with a 9-0 run and prevent the score from reaching three figures.
The Spiders did put four players in double-digit scoring, however. C.J. Gridine posted game-highs in scoring (18) and rebounds (nine), while teammates Griffin Templeton (16), Xavier Stywall (14) and Darren Black (12) reached double figures in points.
Cobb led the Seahawks with 15 points and Golson chipped in 10. Myrtle Beach fell to 1-6 on the season and 0-1 in the Beach Ball. The Seahawks move to the losers bracket where they will play the loser of the J.L Mann-Columbia matchup on Monday.
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