Laurens boys suffer tough loss to Woodmont, girls fall

The Laurens Raiders boys’ basketball team fought back from a double-digit deficit Tuesday night at Woodmont, even taking a slim lead multiple times in the fourth quarter, but Woodmont’s Seth Wells made a basket with 4 seconds to go in regulation to eventually give the Wildcats a 64-62 victory.
Laurens fell to 5-10 overall, 1-4 in the region standings.
Laurens trailed 36-25 early in the third quarter before its offense came to life, scoring 18 of the next 21 points to grab a four-point lead. Dee Foster hit three straight 3-pointers in the run and 11 of his 22 points in the third quarter to help get Laurens back into the game after trailing most of the first half.
The Raiders eventually led by as many as three points in the fourth quarter before Woodmont took the lead back for keeps. Laurens, however, did have one final chance to either win in the final seconds of regulation, or at least force overtime, but an inbound pass was deflected and stolen by Woodmont’s Hector Picart as time ran out.
“I think he was out of bounds,” Laurens Head Coach Joshua Chavis said.
Chavis said what helped turn things around was rebounding. Woodmont had a noted advantage on the glass in the first half, especially getting nine second-chance points in the first half, but Laurens did not allow any second-chance points in the final 16 minutes.
Dravious Copeland had 11 points and Leonard Williams added 10 points.
Laurens visits Greenwood Friday night.

LDHS Girls: Raniya Jackson had 15 points, scoring half of the Raiders’ points on the night, but it was not enough as the Wildcats pulled away for a 53-30 victory.
Laurens, which led 5-2 early in the game, ran off 11 straight points in the first quarter to take early command. Laurens was within six points early in the second quarter before the Wildcats eventually grabbed a 13-point lead at the half.
Woodmont led by double digits the rest of the game, eventually leading by as much as 30 points in the fourth quarter before Laurens closed the gap to the final margin.

PREPS
Basketball
Laurens Academy sweeps: The Laurens Academy Crusaders swept through their varsity doubleheader Tuesday night against the visiting Greenville Hurricanes. LA’s girls picked up a 40-32 victory in the first varsity game, while the boys earned a 58-53 victory in the nightcap.
LA’s girls found themselves tied with Greenville at 19-all after the first half before slowly pulling away in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Hurricanes 18-10. Reagan Williamson had 17 points to lead the Crusaders and Blair Quarles had 15 points. The duo combined to hit 10 of 15 from the foul line to help spark the offense.
In the LA boys’ victory, Diamonte Grant hit three 3-pointers and finished with 24 points. Grant scored 14 of his 24 points in the first half as the Crusaders grabbed a 32-20 victory at half.
Caio Rita scored 14 points and Luke Kerber had three 3-pointers as part of an 11-point night.
LA hosts Anderson Christian Friday.

Clinton splits: The Red Devils moved to 2-0 in Region 3-3A play with a 40-24 victory over Mid-Carolina, holding the Rebels to just six points (and two field goals) in the first half).
De’Shanti Watts had 18 points to lead Clinton, while Tinique Austin added 13 points.
Clinton’s boys, meanwhile, put forth a strong effort on the road against the Rebels but came up just short in an 57-54 loss. Jadden Copeland had 18 points and three of Clinton’s 10 3-pointers, while Jordan Davis hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points.
Clinton hosts Newberry Friday night.

COLLEGE
Women’s basketball
Presbyterian 56, Gardner-Webb 53: In PC’s first Big South victory of the season, Tionna Carter had a career-high 13 points and teammate Trinity Johnson bounced back with 11 points. Carter, Johnson, and Alessia Capley each had six rebounds. Johnson also had seven assists.
Carter went 5-for-7 from the field, helping the Blue Hose shoot 45 percent on the night. Presbyterian had a 28-18 edge in points in the paint against the Runnin’ Bulldogs, and had a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points.
PC (5-10 overall, 1-5 Big South) hosts Campbell Saturday as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team. The women’s game starts at 2 p.m., while the men follow against Radford immediately after.