Falcons and Lady Falcons play over Christmas
By Drake Horton, Contributing Writer
Inclement weather put a hold on what would have been Darlington’s first region game of the year: this past week’s match-up against the Lakewood Gators in Sumter; the game was postponed to a later date.
Instead, we are going to look back and provide a recap of the Falcons and Lady Falcons Christmas Break action, their games against South Florence this past Tuesday, January 3, and what boys head coach Ken Howle and girls head coach Brad Knox think about their teams for the rest of the season.
Darlington Falcons
Going into Christmas Break the Falcons were riding momentum after winning back-to-back games including an overtime thriller against Marion.
As it is every year, Christmas Break is never really a break for Darlington as head coach Ken Howle tries to keep his team sharp by playing in at least one Christmas tournament a year. This year it was two: the A&J Christmas Tournament at Marion High School and the Carolina Pepsi Classic at West Florence High School.
A&J Christmas Tournament
The Falcons played two games in the A&J Christmas Tournament, coming in second place. In the first game Darlington crushed Mullins 81-41 before losing to Lake City in double overtime 66-64.
“It was somewhat disappointing because we had a chance to win a Christmas tournament,” Howle said on the loss to Lake City in the championship game. “We led most of the game and let it get away from us right there at the end.”
Carolina Pepsi Classic
In the Carolina Pepsi Classic the Falcons were able to participate in four games.
Starting its tournament off against Lawrence Manning Academy, the Falcons won decisively by a score of 58-37.
The next two games were not as rewarding, however, as Darlington lost to North Augusta 73-44 and to Hartsville 60-51.
Darlington did finish the tournament on high note, though, avenging an early season loss by defeating South Florence 53-37.
Overall, Howle said he liked how his team did in the tournament.
“I was pretty encouraged with our performance,” Howle said.
Darlington 60, South Florence 39
In their only action last week the Falcons took care of business at home beating South Florence for the second time by a score of 60-39. Overall this season, Darlington has taken two out three from the Bruins.
Outlook
With the non-conference scheduled wrapped, Darlington will now set its focus on region play, the only determining factor of making the playoffs.
It has been an up and down season so far for the Falcons and that inconsistency is something Howle knows his team has to improve on if they are going to do well in the region.
“We have showed some signs of improvement,” Howle said. “We are still searching for some consistency in our play where we can count on people night in or night out”
Darlington is 8-7 overall.
Darlington Lady Falcons
In head coach Brad Knox’s first season, the Lady Falcons have had a good start to the season and have built up some momentum and confidence.
Knox looked to capitalize that momentum and confidence by having his team play over Christmas Break and the Lady Falcons did that by participating in the Little Caesars Invitational Tournament.
Little Caesars Invitational Tournament
Darlington had an extremely successful Christmas Break as the Lady Falcons won the Little Caesars Invitational Tournament defeating South Florence 40-36 in the championship game.
The Lady Falcons won two other games in the tournament, first against Pee Dee Academy and then against Hannah-Pamplico to advance to the championship game by a score of 43-26.
Darlington’s Hope Richardson was the MVP of the tournament, while Deja Turner and Tyshae Harmon-Dubose of the Lady Falcons were named to the All-Tournament team.
Darlington 41, South Florence 37
In their first game back after Christmas Break, the Lady Falcons had to square off again against South Florence and the results were no different with Darlington winning 41-37 on Tuesday, December 3 at home.
Outlook
At 9-3 on the season the Lady Falcons are in much better shape this season than what they were last season. But now the region starts and this is where the team’s success will be measured.
“Our region is pretty tough, but we feel like we have a chance of either winning or finishing second,” Knox said on what he feels like his team can do in the region.
