HS roundup: star player steps up and Great Falls headed back to Upper State finals

Did you feel that rumbling from eastern Chester County around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday night?

That was right around the time Kelton Talford hammered home his third dunk within a 40-second stretch, the exclamation points on Great Falls’ 77-61 win over Denmark-Olar in the third round of the 1A boys’ basketball state playoffs. The Red Devils stiff-armed the visitors’ final surge and Talford, who scored 26 points, leaked out three times in a row to throw down dunks that sent the capacity crowd into ecstasy, and sent the Red Devils into the Upper State championship game at 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 23 against High Point Academy at Bon Secours Arena in Greenville.

“After the first one they kind of gave up,” Talford said of his dunk trio. “We were ready to finish the game, so go ahead and step on their neck.”

The atmosphere encompassed everything wonderful about 1A basketball in small town South Carolina. The gym was almost completely full an hour before tip-off, thanks in part to a huge and boisterous group of Denmark-Olar fans that rode up to Great Falls in a charter bus. The Chester County sheriff deputies had their hands full keeping the visiting fans up in the stands and off the court, especially during the Vikings’ strong start. Great Falls looked scattered and nervous as Denmark-Olar (17-11) created a frantic vibe and took an early 15-8 lead.

“They came out ready and we wasn’t,” said Great Falls’ Kell Brown. “They were very scrappy, they hustled.”

But the Red Devils (20-4) found a way to slow the game down: dump it into Talford. He entered Tuesday’s game averaging 20.4 points, 15.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game and had 19 double-doubles on the season. Who knows how many slam dunks the junior has thrown down during a breakout year.

Great Falls coach Jimmy Duncan said Winthrop, Wofford, College of Charleston and East Carolina are showing interest in Talford, a 6-foot-7 junior. Those level of schools want to see him dominate 1A basketball competition, and he did Tuesday night, despite the Vikings’ constant and physical attention. Back to back Talford buckets in the lane and a 3 from Brown cut the visitors’ lead to 19-18 before the end of the first quarter.

“I think we just had to get settled,” said Duncan. “This is where we lost at last year and I think the boys were thinking about that a little bit.”

Denmark-Olar held its lead until halftime but the Red Devils took control early in the third quarter. Talford dropped in a floater, then stuffed in a transition finish despite getting splattered by a Viking. And he got some help too from the Red Devils bench. K.J. Abrams and DaShawn Johnson threw their weight -- and hips -- around, discarding tired Denmark-Olar defenders and freeing Talford to wreck house.

“Well, he’s tough,” Denmark-Olar coach Hercules Davis said about Talford. “He’s got some great low-post moves, little short jump shots and he can rebound well, and he runs the floor. Next level better look out for him. He gave our guys a tough time.”

“Best 1A player,” said Brown, who hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points. “Nobody can stop him.”

And wreck house Talford did, sandwiching an Abrams bucket inside with two paint finishes of his own, later followed by a fastbreak slam as Great Falls pushed its lead out to 62-46. The Vikings put some brief fear in the hosts with a 10-0 run, but out of a Great Falls timeout, the Red Devils scythed through Denmark-Olar’s press for a Brown layup and order was soon restored.

By that point the visitors were beaten and they weren’t getting back on defense. That allowed Talford to leak out for three dunks that sent the crowd into hysterics, and half of the fans high-stepping onto the court at various times, including former Lancaster Bruin and current Los Angeles Clipper Sindarius Thornwell. And the Red Devils marched on to the state semifinals for the first time since 2012.

Chester 66, Seneca 60

The Chester Cyclones edged Seneca 66-60 in the third round of the 3A playoffs Tuesday night in Seneca.

Chester improved to 12-10 overall and will take on Keenan in the Upper State championship game on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at Bon Secours Arena in Greenville. It is the first trip to the Upper State title game for Chester since 2008.

Against Seneca, the Cyclones led 22-15 after one period and upped the count to 45-29 at halftime. When the third quarter was in the books, Chester was in front 56-42. Seneca rallied in the final eight minutes, but the Cyclones held on down the stretch to secure the victory.

It will be the third meeting of the year between the two teams. Keenan won the first game 83-65 and beat the Cyclones 70-49 in the second game.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Spring Valley 76, Nation Ford 45

Spring Valley defeated the Nation Ford Falcons 76-45 in the third round of the 5A playoffs Monday night at Nation Ford.

Spring Valley took a 44-12 lead at halftime and coasted from there for the victory. The loss ended the season for Nation Ford with a record of 23-6.

South Pointe faces Westwood Friday night at 7 in Upper State final

South Pointe will face Westwood for the third time this season, with the two Region 3-4A rivals squaring off Friday at 7 p.m. at Greenville’s Bon Secours Arena in the 4A Upper State championship game. South Pointe won the first game by four, before Westwood ran away with the second game by 15 points.

READ: a history-making night sends South Pointe into 4A girls’ basketball Upper State championship

WRESTLING

The Individual State Championships will unfold Friday and Saturday at the Anderson Civic Center in Anderson, and 42 wrestlers from the area are in the competition.

In 5A Rock Hill qualified six, while Clover and Fort Mill will have two each in the competition. Northwestern has one in the two-day event. Rock Hill has two individuals seeded number one in the Upper State, while Fort Mill has one.

In 4A South Pointe will send 13 to the championships, while York has three and Lancaster two. Both South Pointe and York have two who are seeded first from the Upper State.

In 3A Chester will have seven in the competition and Indian Land had six to qualify. Indian Land and Chester each have one in the top spot from the Upper State.

5A - 120 - 1. Joshua Sturgeon (Fort Mill), 4. Danny Love (Rock Hill); 132 - 1. Andrew Simpson (Rock Hill); 138 - 1. Bailey Wilkins (Rock Hill); 145 - 3. Ryan Jones (Clover); 152 - 2. Shemar Washington (Northwestern), 3. Josh Cizmadia (Fort Mill), 4. Michael Ramirez (Rock Hill); 170 - 4. Alex English (Rock Hill); 285 - 2. Devon Rice (Rock Hill), 3. Zach Blanchard (Clover).

4A - 106 - 1. Spencer Cox (South Pointe); 113 - 1. Kaleem Heard (York), 4. Kemari Reeves (South Pointe); 120 - 1. Jackson Rumfeldt (York), 4. Matt Hutto (South Pointe); 126 - 3. Cole Arington (South Pointe); 132 - 3. Pearson Borders (South Pointe), 4. Luke Dickson (York); 138 - 2. Matthew Belk (South Pointe); 145 - 4. ShyQuan Ferguson (South Pointe); 152 - 4. Savion White (South Pointe); 160 - 4. Eric Mitchell (South Pointe); 170 - 3. Nygel Moore (Lancaster); 182 - 1. Isaac Ekanem (South Pointe); 195 - 4. Justin Corbin (South Pointe); 220 - 3. Timothy Dunbar (South Pointe); 285 - 2. Immanuel Bush (Lancaster), 3. Jake Morgan (South Pointe).

3A - 106 - 3. Max Yegge (Indian Land); 113 - 4. Payton Stillwell (Chester); 120 - 3. Solomon Cortez (Indian Land); 126 - 2. Weston Nguyen (Indian Land); 132 - 3. Teddy Yarborough (Indian Land), 145 - 4. Emmanuel Wright (Chester); 152 - 3. Xavier Dreese (Indian Land); 160 - 1. Markeith Drakeford (Indian Land), 2. Ly’Terrence Mills (Chester); 170 - 1. Terrence Mills (Chester); 182 - 2. Jadarius Evans (Chester); 195 - 2. Antwan Patton (Chester); 220 - 4. Teddy Murphy (Chester).

This story was originally published February 19, 2019 at 11:03 PM.