Wildcats shoot to top of 10-A
CULLEOKA — In more ways than one, Santa Fe wrapped up a share of the District 10-A regular-season championship from long distance Friday night.
The Wildcats knocked down 11 3-pointers to defeat host Culleoka 77-71 and force a tie for the top spot in the final standings with Mt. Pleasant, which lost its league finale Friday to visiting Richland.
Both Santa Fe and the Tigers completed the regular season with matching 6-2 records in district play and split two games — each winning on the other’s home court.
“The last couple of games, Culleoka has really packed it in and used their size and strength to keep you outside,” Santa Fe coach Brad Slaughter said as his team improved to 13-8 overall. “All we did at practice was just shoot outside shots. We probably got up 400-500 shots, we’re a good shooting group, and we felt like we could make them.”
Behind their strong 3-point shooting, the Wildcats went on a 13-1 first-half run, raced out to a 19-point lead in the second quarter and led by 15 (58-43) going into the final quarter.
Andy Slaughter led the Wildcats with a game-high 27 points, including three 3s, while Jeremy Dotson hit five treys with five and finished with 23 points.
“Eleven 3-pointers, that’s crazy when you think about it,” Culleoka coach Mike Lovett. “They had some guys knock down shots.”
The Warriors (12-9, 3-5) fought back with a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter, cutting the gap to five (60-55) by getting that ball inside to Cooper Parks. He had 11 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter.
“One thing I’ll say about our guys is that they never stop fighting,” said Lovett. “The biggest thing is, we’ve got to quit getting down like that.”
Slaughter said winning at Culleoka is always a challenge, regardless of the teams’ records or standings in the district.
“It makes my stomach sick every time I walk through this door, because it’s so hard to get out of here with a win,” said Slaughter. “We lost one last year up eight with 30 seconds left.”
Santa Fe and Mt. Pleasant will have a coin flip for the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district tournament. Culleoka, the No. 4 seed, will open against Hampshire in a play-in game with the winner facing the top seed.
? Lady Warriors move to .500: Breanna Dickson scored 10 of her team-high 14 points in the second half to boost host Culleoka to a 45-38 win over Santa Fe.
Dickson also had 10 rebounds and was especially effective getting offensive rebounds off missed shots, giving her team second-chance opportunities.
“Bree anchors us, offensively and defensively,” Culleoka coach Derrick Adkison said after the win, as his team improved to 11-11 overall. The Lady Warriors were locked in as the No. 4 district tourney seed regardless of Friday’s outcome, but finished 3-5 in league play.
Santa Fe (6-15, 4-4), the No. 3 seed, rallied from a nine-point third-quarter deficit to lead 33-32, but Culleoka senior Katie Primm connected from 3-point range and sparked a 7-0 run that helped seal the final outcome.
“Katie’s unbelievable,” said Adkison. “That was a clutch shot. I’m proud for her, it being Senior Night, for her to come through with a clutch shot like that.”
Laci Warf and Emmy Bates each scored nine points to lead Santa Fe offensively.
???
Santa Fe boys 77, Culleoka 71
S 23 15 20 19 — 77
C 11 12 20 28 — 71
Santa Fe (77) — Andy Slaughter 27, Jeremy Dotson 23, Logan Wilkins 8, Will Monhollen 8, Colton Steward 5, Sammy Caudle 4, Westin McClanahan 2
Culleoka (71) — Cooper Parks 20, Preston Bagsby 14, Landon Andrews 13, Ethan Harrison 8, Tavon Bagsby 8, Chris Hutcherson 6, Erik Mick 2
3-pointers — Santa Fe 11 (Slaughter 3, Dotson 5, Monhollen 2, Steward), Culleoka 4 (T. Bagsby 2, Hutcherson 2)
Culleoka girls 45, Santa Fe 38
S 10 6 8 14 — 38
C 7 7 16 15 — 45
Santa Fe (38) — Laci Warf 9, Emmy Bates 9, Aniston Slaughter 8, Gracie Mills 6, Elise Adkison 4, Ally Warf 2
Culleoka (45) — Breanna Dickson 14, Tyler Reischman 11, Katie Primm 9, Hannah Collins 7, Maci McKennon 4
3-pointers — Santa Fe 6 (Bates 3, Slaughter 2, Mills), Culleoka 3 (Primm 2, Collins)