WINNSBORO – As December arrived, so did high school basketball season.
Midlands STEM Charter School’s basketball teams traveled across town to Richard Winn Academy on Dec. 1 to open the regular season.
The Eagle girls, who saw preseason action against Lewisville before the Thanksgiving holiday, took down the Mavericks 75-2.
The boys’ game was more of a battle, but Richard Winn came out with a 54-42 win.
Senior Bennett Nicholson led the Eagles with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Nicholson also had two steals. Walker Blackwelder, a freshman, had 13 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. Junior Jonathan Bonds tallied 11 rebounds.
Midlands STEM’s offense was led by juniors Trey Bevins and Cole Talbert, who put up 12 and 10 points, respectively. Talbert also had two assists, three steals, and a blocked shot. Freshman Jayden Cali had a team-high seven rebounds paired with seven points. He also had three steals and two blocked shots.
Richard Winn
The Eagle boys followed with a 58-56 win over Grace Christian on Dec. 2. Blackwelder, Nicholson, and Grayson Young led the Eagle offense. Blackwelder had 15 points, five assists, and six steals. Nicholson scored 14 and had 11 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Young, a seventh grader, put up 12 points and had eight rebounds.
On Dec. 9, Richard Winn jumped into early region action with a 50-39 win over Anderson Christian. Nicholson led with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six steals.
The Eagle girls picked up a 38-30 win over Holly Hill Academy on Dec. 3.
Tied at six after a quarter of play, Richard Winn took a 19-10 lead into halftime. They extended it to 30-16 in the third quarter. The Raiders mounted a fourth-quarter surge, but the deficit was too much and the Eagles held on for their second win of the season.
With a smaller pool of region teams to face, the Eagle girls turned to a tougher stretch of their schedule. They faced Northside Christian on Dec. 8. Northside led 22-14 at halftime but stretched it to 48-23 in the third, then closed out with a 62-30 win.
Both teams will host Laurens Academy on Dec. 12. The girls will travel to Fairfield Central on Dec. 16, then both teams will open region play at King Academy on Dec. 19.
The Eagles will host their annual holiday tournament between Christmas and New Year’s. The boys will play Midlands STEM Dec. 29 and Emmanuel Christian on Dec. 30. Richard Winn’s girls will play Oakbrook Prep on Dec. 29 and Midlands STEM on Dec. 30.
Midlands STEM
With no seniors, the Maverick boys are a young squad – composed of four juniors, a sophomore, three freshmen, and a pair of eighth graders.
They followed up their 12-point loss to Richard Winn with a tough game against Lamar on Dec. 2.
Lamar went up 17-6 in the first and extended their lead to 40-15 at halftime. The Mavericks found their footing in the second half, putting up 29 points, but still fell short with a 77-44 loss.
On Dec. 5, the Mavericks fell to Riverwalk Academy in an overtime heartbreaker.
Riverwalk led 22-18 after the first quarter, but the Mavericks led 41-29 at halftime. The Lions outscored the Mavericks 41-29 in the second half to knot the game at 70 as time expired.
Riverwalk’s second-half momentum pushed them past the Mavericks in overtime as they took the 81-77 win.
Midlands STEM’s girls fell to Lamar 61-38 on Dec. 2 and The Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics 67-20 on Dec. 9.
Both teams will travel to Great Falls on Friday and then host McBee on Dec. 16.
