Photo by Lindsey Semple  

Spring Valley's Michael Czulinski (#9) fights off the defense of James Island's Chad Lange during the Lower State quarter finals on Thursday.Click here to view gallery

 
Spring Valley 4, James Island 1
Goals: Thomas Wollersheium (SV) 2, Brett Watts (SV), Zach Houghton (SV), Brian Demos (JI). Goalies: Will Frierson (SV), Ben Limbaugh (SV), Ryan Moore (JI).

 
By Akilah Nelson 5/9/2008

James Island could not keep its head above water against Spring Valley on Thursday, as the Vikings cruised to a 4-1 in the second round of the Class 4A boys soccer playoffs.

"We knew obviously that they are very good," Trojans coach Todd Robinson said of the Vikings, who are ranked No. 1 in the state and the country. "Our game plan was to go out there and attack because we figured a lot of other teams sit back and try to defend against them."

"To be honest, that plan pretty much backfired," Robinson said.

While James Island was trying to mount an attack, Vikings senior Thomas Wollersheium was roaming free at midfield.

When Sean Flynn passed the ball to him on the right flank, Wollersheium turned upfield, then turned inside and into the penalty box. He then rifled a shot into the goal to give Spring Valley (23-0) the lead less than four minutes into the game.

"The big thing that we try to do is come out early and set that pace," said coach Dave Clark, whose squad has outscored opponents 95-17 this season.

Rather than dropping into defense then, James Island continued trying to attack.

"What are you going to do? You've got to score,"  

 
By Chris Dearing 5/9/2008

Jordan Hunter could be finishing his first semester of college after earning enough credits to be a December graduate at Lexington High.

But something happened about this time last year that delayed his decision: The disappointment of losing the Class 4A state championship after winning it three consecutive years.

So after the Wildcats made quick work of Spartanburg 6-0 in Thursday's Upper State finals, Hunter and his teammates have a chance to avenge the only blemish on last season's record.

Lexington (19-0) will square off against West Florence Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Parklane Tennis Center.

"I had all of my credits out of the way but I came back because of what happened last year," Hunter said after winning his match 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles. "I want to go out with a win and now we have a chance to do that."

The match was decided after Lexington's No. 2 doubles team of Barron Wells and Parker Adkins knocked off Alex Azucey and Aramis Azucey 6-3, 6-4. But with Gordan Lucas forced to a third set tiebreaker at No. 2 singles, the entire focus turned in his direction.

Behind encouragement from his teammates, Lucas came back from down 1-4 in the tiebreaker to  

Photo by Tim Dominick  

Chapin runner Luke Lovelace will be running in his last high school track and field championships Saturday.

STATE TRACK MEET

 
WHEN: Today and Saturday

WHERE: Spring Valley's Harry Parone Stadium

TIMES: Classes 3A and 4A, 5:45 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday; Classes A and 2A, 1 p.m. Saturday

ADMISSION: $5 Friday, $8 Saturday

 
By Akilah Nelson 5/9/2008

Luke Lovelace is the Gingerbread Man of South Carolina distance running.

Run, run as fast as they can, competitors have been unable to catch the Chapin High standout.

They will get their final crack at him this weekend, when Lovelace will try to add to his collection of four state championships. He is the top seed in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the Class 3A meet Saturday at Spring Valley High.

Throughout his hugely successful high school career - he owns seven track and field state medals and two cross country championships - his desire to run faster never has waned. Sometimes that desire is too strong.

"He says, 'I can get better.' And that's what makes him do it," Chapin coach Jack LeGrand said. "I don't have a problem with him never being satisfied, but I have a problem when he starts to internalize it negatively, if he makes it a major thing."

Lovelace has been driven by the memory of his freshman season, when he came from behind on the final lap of the 3,200 to win at the state meet. He ran that race in 10 minutes, 7.44 seconds, which was 9 seconds faster than his qualifying time.

Ever since, he has  

 
By Jim McLaurin 5/9/2008

For Spring Valley's boys tennis team, the third time was not the charm.

West Florence won four of five singles matches to beat the Vikings, 4-2, in the Class 4A Lower State championship Thursday at the Richland County Tennis Center, the third time this season the defending state champions had beaten Spring Valley.

West Florence will face Lexington on Saturday for the state championship. The Knights won last year's championship match, 4-3.

"Every match has been close, and those are two character teams, both of them," West Florence coach Charles Nelson said. "Our conference is not really strong, and getting to play some of the better teams around the state really helped us."

West Florence got the wins they expected at No. 1 and No. 2 singles from Bobby Browning and Pruitt Williams, respectively.

Browning, last individual state individual runner-up, beat Ashkon Babaee 6-4, 6-1.

Williams earned the 100th match win of his career, besting Chris Harvey 6-2, 6-0.

Williams' win put him in some elite company. The only other Knight to win 100 matches was Mitch Sprengelmeyer, who won individual state titles in 1991 and 1993.

Brent Lett, a seventh grader, got Spring Valley's sole singles point, beating Matthew Canelon 6-2, 6-2. The No.  

 
By John Devlin 5/9/2008

A.C. Flora will send junior left-hander Evan Brown to the mound today at 5 p.m. against Blythewood in the Class 3A Upper State championship game. The visiting Bengals must win to force a decisive second game and stay in the running for a berth in next week's best-of-three state championship series.

Brown, who had no record and just six innings of work during the regular season, has two complete game wins since being thrust into the rotation during the playoffs after staff ace Pat Sullivan was lost for the season with a back injury.

The Falcons (19-8) have been idle since Monday when it handed Blythewood a 3-1 loss in the Upper State semifinal game. The Bengals (25-5) earned their fourth meeting with Flora this spring by beating Riverside 8-5 on Wednesday in an elimination game.

Blyethewood probably will not have the services of senior Richard Mounce tonight. Mounce has already pitched two complete games in the Upper State tournament, most recently going seven tough innings vs. Riverside to help keep the Bengals alive.

"Technically, Richard has three innings left (for Friday), but he's pretty worn out," said Blythewood coach Barry Mizzell on Wednesday.

The Bengals will probably start Michael Hanzlik on the hill in the  

 
By John Devlin 5/9/2008

David Stone's goal 1:30 into sudden death overtime gave the Chapin boys soccer team a tense, 2-1 win over North Myrtle Beach Thursday at home in the second round of the Class 3A state soccer playoffs.

The second-ranked Eagles (20-3) will head to Myrtle Beach on Saturday for a third-round showdown vs. third ranked Socastee (21-2). The Braves humbled Chapin 4-0 on the Eagles pitch in last year's Lower State championship match.

The visiting Chiefs took a 1-0 lead 20 minutes in last night's match on a quick counter goal by Jesse Graham. The Eagles responded with five minutes left in the first half when Ben Bosco scored the equalizer.

That was it for the scoring until the 112th minute, when Stone's "golden goal" ended the affair in dramatic fashion.

The Eagles had some great chances to take the lead in regulation, but could not find the back of the net. The best opportunity came just before halftime when Joey De Mare ripped a shot that banged off the cross bar.

"We had most of the possession, but North Myrtle Beach played a very stingy defensive game and their keeper Kyle Smith was fantastic," said Chapin coach Dick Hiller.

Smith was credited with eight saves, including  

 
By John Devlin 5/9/2008

Hammond advanced to the Class 3A SCISA girls soccer championship match for the first time with a 1-0 semifinal win over St. Joseph's in Greenville on Thursday night.

The Skyhawks (11-5) will square off against two-time defending champion Hilton Head Prep (16-7) Saturday at 10 a,m. at Heathwood Hall. The Dolphins rated yet another title shot by downing Ben Lippen 4-1 yesterday.

It was the third time Hammond met the Region 2-3A rival Knights this season, and all three contests were decided by 1-0 verdicts. The only goal was scored by freshman Liesel Hamilton in the ninth minute. Hamilton was in the