Even with a comfortable lead in the waning minutes of a game his Whale Branch boys had mostly controlled from the tip, Warriors coach Jim Raymond called a timeout early in the fourth quarter and lit into his team.
No, the defensive lapses weren’t going to cost the Warriors this game — they cruised to an 86-63 win to sweep the season series from crosstown rival Beaufort High — but if they don’t clean them up, Raymond knows it will come back to haunt them in the playoffs.
“I want to keep challenging them,” said Raymond, whose team is ranked fourth in Class 2A. “I don’t want to be complacent.”
The Warriors were anything but complacent early on.
Wofford signee Nick Pringle juiced up the gym with an early dunk and piled up 27 points, many of them coming because Beaufort couldn’t keep the 6-8 star off the boards.
The Eagles also had trouble with Shawn Chisolm, who put up 16 points and sparked the Warriors with 10 points in the second quarter alone to help Whale Branch extend a two-point advantage after the first quarter to a 38-23 halftime lead.
Oliver Holmes poured in 21 points to keep the Eagles within arm’s length for much of the game, but Pringle scored 18 of his 27 in the third quarter to help the Warriors put it out of reach.
Jamaad Rivers added 11 points, and Rush Riley had 10 for Beaufort, while Shemar Williams added 10 for Whale Branch.
With the win, the Warriors completed a sweep of both of their major crosstown rivals — Battery Creek and Beaufort High.
“To be able to win the mythical Beaufort city championship is always great, especially when you’re just little old Whale Branch,” Raymond said.
UP NEXT
Whale Branch (10-3) hosts Colleton County at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Beaufort (5-10) travels to Wade Hampton at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Story and photos by Justin Jarrett
