BASEBALL UPDATE NUMBER 1 (2012)

The Gaffney Indians are off to a pretty good start to the 2012 baseball season. They currently have a record of 6 and 3 overall and 4 and 2 in Region 3 4A. They have beaten Boiling Springs and Dorman in non-region play and they also fell to Dorman as well.

The Tribe is currently sitting in second place in Region 3 4A with a 4 and 2 region record. They have beaten Spartanburg, Lancaster, and Clover twice in region play. Their region losses have been to Lancaster and Region 3 4A's first place team Northwestern.

The Tribe has had a pretty good week thus far this week with an 8 to 3 win over Dorman and a 9 to 3 region win over Lancaster. Both of these wins avenged losses earlier this season to the Cavaliers and Bruins. The Indians travel to Rock Hill to face the Rock Hill Bearcats, for the first time this season, on Friday March 30th. This is a region game that the Tribe needs to win to stay in contention for the Region Championship.

Standout Players So Far This Season..... have been Josh Tate on the mound, as he has a couple of wins. He has been a pleasant surprise this season. Micheal Wright of course, he is just now getting into pitching shape and will become the ace that everyone expects down the stretch heading toward the playoffs. He has already been a standout hitter for the Tribe getting key hit after key hit. Josh Mata has had a very good start to the season both handling the pitching staff and swinging the bat. Jaylin Miller, Bryce Spurlin, Ryan Frock and Clay McKowen have also swung the bat well for the Tribe in the early part of the season. Sophomore Luke Lancaster pitched a great ballgame against Dorman on Monday pitching a two hitter over five innings to get the win. Josh Sereno and Kellon Stanley have also played well at times for the Tribe.

Outlook For The Rest Of Season..... I really expect the Tribe to make a run for the Region 3 Championship. They need to keep winning and have some help to catch Northwestern. They could really be a dangerous team come playoff time.

TRIBE FACTS..... The Tribe has already won the Region 3 Championship in football and basketball this school year. If they can catch Northwestern they could get the Championship in all three major sports in the same school year for the first time.

The next Tribe Blitz blog will be on Monday April 9th.

Until Next Time.

4A BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (2012) RECAP

UNBELIEVABLE FINISH to the 4A State Championship Game! The Gaffney Indians are State Champions again! Another Title for Title Town,SC! The headlines in the area newspapers said "Drama in Columbia" and "Wow"! I couldn't have said it any better. There was tremendous Drama in Columbia and Wow what a finish. The Tribe defeated the Lexington Wildcats 58 to 55 in overtime to win the State Championship of 4A basketball. Let's recap this classic Championship game.

Lexington Wildcats vs Gaffney Indians..... The game started slow with both teams struggling to execute offensively. Both teams were playing very good defense and the score at the end of the 1st quarter was Gaffney 7 and Lexington 6. The score looked more like a football score than a basketball score.

The Tribe built an early 2nd quarter lead of 11 to 6 but, Lexington would end the quarter with a 9 to 3 run to lead by 15 to 14 at the half. Gaffney's L.J. Peak would only score 3 points in the 1st half.

The offensive production picked up in the 3rd quarter with Lexington outscoring Gaffney 18 to 16 to lead 33 to 30 after the 3rd quarter. Quinshad Davis and L.J. Peak scored all of Gaffney's 3rd quarter points. Peak really came out being more aggressive in the 3rd quarter, with his jump shot not falling he was taking it to the hoop. Davis and Peak ended the 3rd quarter in foul trouble and Lexington's star Shaq Roland was also in some foul trouble. The foul trouble added to the dramatic finish to the game.

The Tribe trailed the entire 4th quarter until the waning seconds and were down by as much as seven points with 2:35 left to play. With the score 46 to 39, the Tribe started storming back behind some clutch baskets and their press causing a couple of turnovers. Gaffney cut the Lexington lead to 47 to 45 behind a couple of baskets by Peak and a couple of free throws by Kerry Williams. Then with 10.7 seconds left and Lexington leading 50 to 48, Gaffney's Quinshad Davis fouled Shaq Roland and it put Roland on the line for two shots and it fouled Davis out of the game. All Roland had to do was hit both free throws and Lexington probably wins the game but, he misses both free throws and then fouls Peak in frustration, as Peak was driving the ball passed half court with 7.1 seconds left. Peak calmly swished both free throws and the Tribe had tied the game up at 50 to 50. Another dramatic point in the game was the foul of Peak by Roland which sent Roland to the bench with his 5th foul. Lexington still had one last try to win the game in regulation, as Sam McDermott missed on a drive to the basket and also missed a put back by Nygel Gates as time expired in regulation. So we were headed to overtime tied at 50 to 50. We are also headed to overtime with Gaffney's Quinshad Davis having fouled out and Lexington's Shaq Roland had fouled out as well. Lexington's Sam McDermott also had an injury at the end of regulation.

The overtime started with Lexington going up 52 to 50 and then Gaffney got the lead for the first time since the 2nd quarter on an old fashioned three point play by Peak that put the Tribe up 53 to 52. Peak then added to the drama by fouling out with 2:48 left. Lexington went back in front 54 to 53 before the tribe got a basket and a free throw from Cobby McDowell and a free throw from Keenan Littlejohn to put Gaffney up 57 to 55. Gaffney's Kerry Williams then went to the line with the Tribe up 57 to 55 with 19.8 seconds left and made one of two to put Gaffney up 58 to 55. Lexington came down and tried to get off a three point shot but, had to call timeout with three seconds left. Lexington put three point specialist Sam McDermott back in the game and he tried an off balance three pointer that was missed and the Tribe had escaped with an unbelievable overtime victory 58 to 55 over Lexington.

My View From The Stands..... (1) It was a tremendous crowd in the Colonial Life Arena on Friday night. Gaffney had a great turnout as did Lexington. (2) There was an outstanding atmosphere for a tremendous basketball game. (3) If you would have told me that both Quinshad Davis and L.J. Peak would foul out and Micheal Wright would not score and Gaffney would win the ball game I would have thought you were crazy. (4) Davis and Peak were outstanding in the 2nd half before fouling out. (5) The Gaffney bench came up big late in the 4th quarter and overtime. (6) I have never seen a team handle adversity as well as this Gaffney team did this season. They just found a way to win ball games when things were stacked against them. (7) I saw 39 fouls called in this game. There were several questionable calls.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

L.J. Peak..... 22 points
Quinshad Davis..... 15 points
Kerry Williams..... 12 points
Cobby McDowell..... 6 points
Tee Smith..... 2 points
Keenan Littlejohn..... 1 point
Micheal Wright..... 0 points
Tee Hardy..... 0 points
Ron Best..... 0 points

The next edition of Tribe Blitz will be on April 1st.

Until Next Time.

4A BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PREVIEW (2012)

The Gaffney Indians defeated Dorman 55 to 47 to win the Upper State Championship on Friday night at the Bilo Center in Greenville. The Lexington Wildcats defeated Aiken 44 to 36 to win the Lower State Championship on Friday night at the Florence Civic Center in Florence. This sets up a rematch of the 2010 4A State Championship Basketball Game between Gaffney and Lexington. The Gaffney Indians defeated the Lexington Wildcats 71 to 57 to win the 2010 State Championship. Let's preview the 2012 State Championship Game between Gaffney and Lexington.

Lexington vs Gaffney..... Lexington comes into this game on a roll. They have won 14 games in a row and they have an overall record of 25 and 5. They are coached by their longtime Head Coach Bailey Harris. He is considered one of the best coaches in South Carolina High School basketball. He has won a State Championship. The Wildcats are led by 2011's Mr. Football winner Shaq Roland. He was a starter and leading scorer on the 2010 Wildcats that lost to Gaffney in the State Championship Game. Roland not only excels on the football field he is a tremendous basketball player as well. He averaged 17.7 points per game this season. For the season the Wildcats averaged 67.0 points per game and they have given up an average of 50.4 points per game. To get to this State Championship Game they have beaten Ridge View 75 to 47, West Ashley 61 to 51, White Knoll 56 to 43 and Aiken 44 to 36 to win the Lower State Championship. During their playoff run the Wildcats have averaged 59.0 points per game and they have given up an average of 44.3 points per game. They have played good defense all season and they have kicked it up a notch in the playoffs.

Gaffney also comes into this game on a roll having won 16 of 17 games after a 6 and 4 start. They have an overall record of 22 and 5. Gaffney is coached by arguably the best High School basketball coach in the state of South Carolina Mark Huff. Coach Huff's record speaks for itself, as he has won four State Championships at Gaffney. The Indians became the only 4A team in South Carolina basketball history to win three consecutive State Championships from 2003 thru 2005 . The Indians had an 81 and 3 record during their three-peat seasons. Coach Huff also has another State Championship while at Southside High School. He also has a State Runner-up at Gaffney in 2009. He is going for his 5th State Championship at Gaffney and sixth overall. The Indians are led by sophomore sensation L.J. Peak with an average of 17.8 per game. Senior Quinshad Davis has averaged 11.7 per game and has really stepped up his game during the playoffs. Davis and fellow senior Micheal Wright have really shown a lot of senior leadership and they have made clutch play after clutch play during the Indians playoff run. For the season the Tribe has averaged 68.4 points per game and they have given up an average of 55.4 points per game. They have beaten Mauldin 83 to 40, Easley 81 to 77, Irmo 59 to 58 and Dorman 55 to 47 to win the Upper State Championship. During their playoff run they have averaged 69.5 points per game and they have given up an average of 55.5 points per game. The Tribe has shown a very good ability to overcome adversity and win close ball games all season and especially during the playoffs.

I look for this to be another fantastic basketball game. Two story lines to keep in mind during this game is Lexington losing to Gaffney two seasons ago in the State Championship Game and the rivalry between Quinshad Davis of Gaffney and Shaq Roland of Lexington. Davis defeated Roland in the basketball State Championship in 2010 and Roland beat out Quinshad Davis for the Mr. Football award back in the fall. Davis failed to get a football ring in the fall and he would like to keep Roland from getting a ring and he wants his second one before he goes off to Chapel Hill in the fall to play football for North Carolina.

TRIBE FACTS..... Gaffney is a football school and has 16 State Championships. They also have 5 basketball State Championships and they are going for number 6 on Friday night.

You can look for my State Championship Game Recap on Monday March 5th.

Until Next Time.

GO INDIANS AND BRING THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BACK TO TITLE TOWN!!