Rebels finish off perfect region run
Feb. 10—JOHNSTON — The biggest hurdle was cleared Tuesday, but another serious challenge was waiting Thursday for the Strom Thurmond boys' basketball team.
The Rebels had already wrapped up the Region 3-AA championship and the benefits that come with it — namely home-court advantage through the third round of the state playoffs, should they advance that far — but to do it without a loss in league play would be even sweeter.
All that stood in the way of that was Edgefield County rival Fox Creek, and the Rebels overcame a tough Predators team and a rough second quarter of their own for a 59-49 win to cap an 8-0 run through the region.
"We've really been battling some adversity this week. We lost a couple of key players," said first-year head coach Owen Jacobs. "For our guys to come out tonight against our kind-of crosstown rival and put on the performance they did, it just shows a lot of grit and a lot of determination. That's been the character of our guys all year. It's been hard work, hard work, hard work, and it's paying off."
The Rebels (19-6 overall), ranked seventh in Class AA, will open the playoffs at home Feb. 16 against the No. 4 seed from Region 4-AA — the loser of Friday night's game between Eau Claire and Columbia.
They head into the postseason on an eight-game winning streak, having swept through region play by an average of nearly 31 points per game. But the final week of the regular season was by far the toughest.
Up first was a home game Tuesday against second-place Silver Bluff with a chance to clinch the region title. They did that in a 52-41 win, with the trio of Darrian Hendrix, Will Bush and Roosevelt Walker all scoring in double figures.
Then came a Fox Creek team that would have liked nothing more than to break up Strom Thurmond's perfect region run while also building momentum of its own for the playoffs, and the Rebels took the floor having lost junior forward Quan Edmond the day before. They trailed at the half, falling behind during a disjointed second quarter during which the Rebels couldn't keep their starting five on the floor together, but went on a big run to start the third quarter and put the game away.
"Just overcoming adversity. We faced adversity this week. That's a good Fox Creek team over there," Jacobs said. "For us to show up and put on a performance like that in front of all these fans was really big for us."
The Rebels have been building toward this opportunity since the summer, not long after Jacobs was hired in April. The adjustment period wasn't a long one, as they started summer ball and played about 30 games that month — by the end of that, players and coach were plenty used to one another.
"People don't realize how long we've been working," Jacobs said. "We've been working since June. For these seniors to get a region title like this in their last year is just sweet."
It's the first region title for Thurmond's boys since the 2018-19 season, and they'll have nearly a full week to prepare for their playoff opener. The Rebels are going to have to overcome some obstacles to make a deep run, but that's exactly what they had to do in order to reach this point.
"It feels amazing, because this group hasn't been in a position like this in pretty much their whole high school careers," Jacobs said. "The seniors, the last region title, they weren't playing. They weren't key factors. For them to carry that burden, that weight on their shoulder all the way through this little stretch we've had really tells us a lot about those guys and the character they have."
