Aiken vs. River Bluff

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first week of a new calendar year also means the second half of the high school basketball season. The bulk of the midseason tournament schedule is out of the way save for a few showcases around the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and region play takes up the bulk of January's slate. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of those early January contests was not a region matchup but it did feature two teams from the Palmetto State's higher classifications. One was the homestanding 10-4 River Bluff whose only losses were to Wilson, Lugoff-Elgin, Ridge View and Keenan.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for the Green Hornets, they recently competed in the Copperhead Classic at Catawba Ridge. Aiken had an 8-6 record entering the day's play but have dropped three of their last four.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This one would go the way of the Gators by virtue of a 67-48 victory over the Green Hornets.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Remember What Happened Last Time?</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The last time these two teams shared the same court together was last season – a narrow 59-54 win for the Green Hornets.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Quarter-By-Quarter</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If the first quarter was any indication, it may have predicted that this one would be an unexpected rout. River Bluff began the game with an 11-0 run and exited the first quarter with a 15-4 over Aiken.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Green Hornets responded in kind with a run of their own in the second quarter to make it a close contest once again. As the 10 minutes of halftime arrived, the Gators would lead by six – 30-24.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stanza number three would be advantage home team as River Bluff managed to grow its lead back into the double digits. With eight minutes remaining in Wednesday's matchup, the Gators lead was 46-34.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And that advantage continued to increase. Following a victory by Aiken's girls over River Bluff's girls, the Gators boys managed to ensure that them and their Green Hornets adversaries would split the two varsity contests at the swamp.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Key Catalysts</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2314665,"width":"384px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/IMG_7698-crop-2381x1564-1704444124.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/IMG_7698-crop-2381x1564-1704444124.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-2314665" style="width:384px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It appeared as if whenever senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1789300' first='Luke' last='Chapman']</strong> had the ball, the leather was going in only one direction – through the basket. Chapman led all point-getters with 26 points. Two words. Unsigned. Senior. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another veteran also paved the way to the victory for the Gators. That was their junior big in <strong>Pac Pitts</strong> who added 10 points to River Bluff's total. Pitts is also a force to be reckoned with on the gridiron as an offensive lineman. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2314667,"width":"382px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/IMG_7689-crop-2253x1480-1704444230.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/IMG_7689-crop-2253x1480-1704444230.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-2314667" style="width:382px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As is common for Green Hornets contests, senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1241815' first='Joey' last='Tracey']</strong> led the way for Aiken. He finished with 16 points. Tracey also plays football as a cornerback and strong safety during the early and middle portions of fall semester. Tracey will play the game on contact and get to the free throw line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2314669,"width":"378px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/IMG_7703-crop-2630x1727-1704444335.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/IMG_7703-crop-2630x1727-1704444335.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-2314669" style="width:378px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Green Hornets also benefitted from the 14 points that were placed on the scoreboard courtesy of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1406403' first='Tre'von' last='Walker']</strong>. His AAU career has included playing for Carolina Lakers during the spring and summer months.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>What's Next? </em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Friday, both Aiken and River Bluff will be at home. The Green Hornets will begin region play as they host Airport while the Gators will await Lower Richland.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->