Post Game Show: Irmo, Ridge View, and SC Hoops with the Captain, Carey Rich

During this segment of the "Post Game Show," our "expert on the scene," Carey Rich, reports in from the Irmo-White Knoll game.  The captain describes what makes Irmo such a good program.  He also weighs in on Ridge View (a winner tonight versus Lower Richland), Keenan, and the South Carolina hoops scene.

Video streaming by Ustream

Lower Richland @ Ridge View (boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta and Columbia. Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: Lower Richland 49  Ridge View 50

Ridge View's Jordan Portee hit two free throws in the final seconds to win by one.

Lower Richland Final Highlights (below)

Ridge View Final Highlights (below)

Irmo @ White Knoll (boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta and Columbia. Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: Irmo 74 White Knoll 49

Class 4A's number 1 ranked Irmo improved to 10-0 on the season with a convincing 74-49 road win over White Knoll.  White Knoll kept the game close throughout the first half and actually missed a couple of chances late in the 2nd quarter to make the game even closer than the 31-24 halftime score.  Early on the difference between the two teams seemed to be that although both teams were executing their game plans well, Irmo was capitalizing on the opportunities presented to them while White Knoll was missing some chances to finish plays on the offensive end or to close out Irmo's scoring opportunities on the defensive end.  

It was a different story in the second half as Irmo came out of the locker room and seized control of the game behind the play of their big three - seniors Justin McKie and Detrek Browning and junior post player Javis Howard.  Howard, who had scored 13 points in the first half, came out and got three quick third quarter baskets.  And after McKie and Browning nailed back to back treys, Irmo had extended their halftime lead to 46-26 and never looked back from there.  McKie closed a dominant 3rd quarter with a runner to increase the lead to 22 and Irmo spent much of the 4th quarter playing their reserves.  Junior Javis Howard scored a game high 26 points and flashed the kind of potential that will make him an increasingly hot college prospect.  McKie and Browning seemed to always be in the right place at the right time to make White Knoll pay for their mistakes.  Sophomore point guard Emarius Logan led the Timberwolves with 15 points.

White Knoll's young players showed flashes of solid play and they will be a tough matchup in region play.  But Irmo is rolling right now.  This was Irmo's third consecutive 25 point blowout win.  They are headed into the Christmas break on a roll and have clearly established themselves as the team to beat in Class 4A with their combination of experience, size, and talent.  Being coached by a legend in Tim Whipple doesn't hurt either!

Irmo 2nd Half Highlights (below)

 White Knoll 2nd Half Highlights (below)

Irmo 1st Half Highlights (below)

White Knoll 1st Half Highlights (below)

Dreher Defeats CA Johnson

In a matchup between two Columbia teams - Dreher (the #3 Class AAA team) and CA Johnson (the #9 Class A team) - the story was the play of Dreher sophomore Tevin Mack.  CA Johnson used a trapping defense and effective zone offense to race out to a 30-24 halftime lead.  Whatever Dreher coach Jon Richards said in the locker room, Tevin Mack was listening.  In the first four minutes of the 3rd quarter Mack scored 5 buckets and helped the Blue Devils turn a 6 point deficit into a 3 point lead.  The Blue Devils were never able to get away from Johnson, but Mack went 4-4 from the free throw line down the stretch as the Blue Devils posted a 62-56 win.  After being held to a single bucket in the first half ,the athletic Sophomore scored 20 points in a variety of ways and ended up with a game high 22 points.  With the win, Dreher improves to 8-0 on the season.  See highlights above.

ABRLive.tv's Instant Replay Feature

We broadcasted several games last weekend at ABRLive.tv.  We are excited about the quality of the broadcasts and the ability to show instant replays.  During the halftime breaks, we played the highlights from the first half of play during each game.  Here is an example from the GAIS vs Gray Military game.



Video streaming by Ustream

Irmo vs. Dutch Fork (Boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta and Columbia.  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: Irmo 66 Dutch Fork 37

Full Game Highlights Below

Spring Valley vs. Sumter (Boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta and Columbia.  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: Spring Valley 88 Sumter 76

Leading Scorers

Spring Valley: PJ Dozier 30pts

Sumter: Erik White 22 pts

Spring Valley Second Half Highlights (below)

Spring Valley First Half Highlights (below)

Sumter First Half Highlights (below)

Oak Hill vs. Ridge View (Boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta and Columbia.  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: Oak Hill 59 Ridge View 51

Leading Scorers

Oak Hill: Sindarius Thornwell 15 pts, RJ Currington 11 pts

Ridge View: Trevon Howell 14 pts, Jarrell Brantley 10 pts

Oak Hill Second Half Highlights (below)
Ridge View

Ridge View Second Half Highlights (below)

Halftime Score: Oak Hill 26 Ridge View 18

Leading Scorers

Oak Hill: Sindarius Thornwell 8 pts, Lennard Freeman 7 pts

Ridge View: Trevon Howell 7 pts, Jarrell Brantley 6 pts

Oak Hill First Half Highlights (below)

Ridge View First Half Highlights (below)

Keenan vs. Charleston Collegiate (Boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta and Columbia.  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

FINAL: Keenan 64 Charleston Collegiate 49

Leading Scorers

Keenan: Charles Smith 16pts

Charleston Collegiate: Ty Solomon 17pts
Keenan Second Half Highlights (Below)

Keenan First Half Highlights (below)

Charleston Collegiate First Half Highlights (below)

Rich and Avery Compare Notes on Talent from Respective States (from Post Game Show)

The most informed "basketball guy" we know in South Carolina is former South Carolina Gamecock point guard and current Columbia sports radio personality, "the captain" Carey Rich.  Not only is Rich extremely knowledgeable about the high school teams and players in the Palmetto State, he is also a passionate advocate for them.

So when Rich, greater Augusta area based Will Avery, and I first started discussing (on Twitter) which area was more loaded with good high school guard play, Rich and Avery each immediately started building his case.  And when Carey called our post game show to discuss the Spring Valley and Richland Northeast wins Tuesday evening, the conversation quickly turned to the ongoing debate.

The two have resolved to debate the topic this coming weekend at Ridge View High School, site of the NetCastSports.com and ABRLive.tv broadcast of several outstanding high school basketball games.  And I have assured Carey that as the "moderator/judge/referee," I will not take sides, regardless of where I live.  And because I am so fond of South Carolina guards like PJ Dozier, Marcus Stroman, and Aaron Scott (shown in the highlights played during the post game show), I can be trusted not to be partial towards those from my home state.

Livesay's South Carolina Hoops Notebook

ABR Live has expanded coverage into Aiken and North Augusta in a major way, providing live highlights and updates to most games involving North Augusta, Aiken, South Aiken, Strom Thurmond, Silver Bluff, and Midland Valley.  And we are happy to announce a new contributor, Nate Livesay, a South Carolina high school hoops expert who will provide insight and analysis from all over the Palmetto State.  With contributors like Livesay, Will Avery, Carey Rich, and the ABRLive.tv crew, we can confidently say that we are steadily blanketing the Georgia-Lina high school hoops landscape with news, analysis, and video highlights!

Livesay's first contribution is a combination of game reports and impressions of notable teams and players that have made an impression in the beginning weeks of the 2012-2013 high school season.  Enjoy!

South Carolina Hoops Weekly Notebook

December 9, 2012

6 Things I know so far:

Contributor - Nate Livesay

1. Because of injury, illness, and football players there are still lots of unknowns this season in AAAA.   If you have seen some surprising scores this so far you are not alone.  Don’t make any snap judgments based on those scores yet.  For example, Northwestern got off to 0-6 start without their football players including a 32 loss at Dorman.  Once they got their football players back they defeated Dorman 54-51 in the rematch at Northwestern.  So Northwestern is better than Dorman right?  Not so fast my friends – While the Trojans look to be a very good team on this night it was Dorman who was playing with an incomplete squad due to injuries.  Same type of thing was evident in Gaffney.  Gaffney starts the season 0-2 without football players.  Football players come back and the Indians go 2-0 this week including a home win over Rock Hill.

AC Flora @ Richland NE (Boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta, Aiken, and Columbia.  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: AC Flora 44 Richland North East 54

Full Game Highlighs (below)

South Aiken @ Airport (Boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta, Aiken, and Columbia.  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: South Aiken 39 Airport 62

Full Game Highlights (below)

White Knoll @ Midland Valley (Boys) Live

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from high school games in Augusta, Aiken, and Columbia.  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: White Knoll 62, Midland Valley 44

2nd Half Highlights (below)


1st Half Highlights (below)

Preview: Richland Northeast and AC Flora

This matchup features two of my favorite players, Richland Northeast's Aaron Scott and AC Flora's Matt Howard.  Both are very athletic shooting guards who can put the ball on the floor and finish above the rim.  Both are also very good passers who put teammates in position to score easy baskets.  Scott is probably a more dangerous shooter from deep, but Howard can knock down the perimeter shot, too.  Howard will attend Penn after graduation and Scott will head to Appalachian State.

ABR Live has been consistently on site for almost every boys and girls game in Augusta, North Augusta, and Aiken this season.  We choose select games in Columbia.  Being at Tuesday's game between these two teams is a "no brainer" for us.  See why in the highlights above.

Alex Mills Half Court Buzzer Beater!

I share this video highlight from Saturday's highly entertaining Palmetto Challenge contest between Keenan High and Kennedy Charter for a couple reasons:

1) I have tweeted about our intentions to constantly "improve our game," bringing basketball fans ever improving information and coverage.  The game above is one of four broadcasted last weekend from ABRLive.tv - a new site that will present high quality games and shows.  Last weekend's broadcasts were filmed in Columbia.  This Friday we revisit Columbia to air two games featuring Oak Hill Academy, the nation's most successful high school basketball program.  And we aim broadcast our first game in Augusta Tuesday, December 18, at Aquinas High School (versus local power Glenn Hills).  These broadcasts are only the beginning of our evolving "TV" offering.

2)  In addition to the quality of the broadcast (including instant replay) we are very excited to be working with high quality people like announcer Carey Rich (former USC Gamecock point guard and current 560 AM radio personality in Columbia), Keenan High School coach Zach Norris, and Ridge View coach John Combs (the organizer of the events covered last weekend and this weekend).

In the excerpt above, Kennedy Charter's Alex Mills drills a buzzer beating half court shot just before the second quarter buzzer sounds.  Our cameras clearly show, even with instant replay, Mills slapping opposing coach Zach Norris's hand on his way to the locker room.

One of the greatest things about high school sports is the enjoyment that all competitors experience.  Rich and the other announcers talk about this dynamic, which caused Norris, one of the southeast's most decorated coaches to share a nice moment with the opposition, while all the while no doubt trying to beat his team when play resumes!

Richland North East vs Westwood (Boys)

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from 27 games in Augusta, Aiken, and Columbia!  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: Richland North East 60 , Westwood 29

Leading Scorers

Richland North East: #5Aaron Scott, 17 points

Westwood: #34 Adonis Lee, 11 points

Full Game Highlights below.

Lower Richland vs Keenan (Boys)

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from 27 games in Augusta, Aiken, and Columbia!  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: Lower Richland  47,  Keenan 73 

Leading Scorers
Keenan: #1 Marcus Stoman, 18 points
Lower Richland: #42 V. Kicklan, 13 points

Full Game Highlights below.

AC Flora vs. Airport (Boys)

This evening, ABR Live is posting live updates and highlights from 27 games in Augusta, Aiken, and Columbia!  Follow the action here (AugustaBasketball.com) and on our Twitter page (@AugBball).

Final Score: Airport 57, AC Flora 47

Second Half highlights below.



Halftime Score: Airport 26, AC Flora 20

First Half highlights below.

Irmo Cruises to Victory over White Knoll

South Carolina's #1 ranked team in class AAAA, Irmo High School, rolled to a 66-45 victory over White Knoll Tuesday evening. Irmo's back court, Detrek Browning and Justin Mckie, scored 24 points and 17 points respectively. Mckie will play basketball for Frank Martin at South Carolina next season. Browning is a solid decision maker who can score as well. Watch the highlights below to see Irmo's backcourt in action.