Some notable wins for the Raptors have come in region play, beating Battery Creek twice and Hanahan once. Strong senior leadership and some good bench play was the deciding factor in these three games. Against Hanahan away, the Raptors were down 32-34 going into the 4th quarter. However after a late-game rally to go up 5 within the last minute, the team was able to pull out the W in your typical toxic environment when playing against Hanahan. As a player who has now faced Hanahan in basketball for 4 years and football for 2, a recurring theme of a lack of sportsmanship and hostility seems to always hover when playing this school. Their players constantly talk trash throughout the game, using profanity to degrade you and get in your head. Their student section isn’t full of angels either, as they learn your name and continue the trash-talking from the stands. At one point in the game, I went up to the ref to let him know my concern that if they “keep letting Hanahan play and get away with whatever they wanted, someone was going to get hurt.” Sometimes it’s beneficial to let teams play and not call as many fouls to keep a game moving, but with Hanahan, doing that encourages them to foul harder than normal making it more dangerous for the opposing team. It’s a dirty mentality that I guess seems to come with being an athlete at Hanahan.
The Raptor’s other two region wins against Battery Creek came with a close win at home (42-38), and a handy win away at Battery Creek finishing the game 47-37. The first appearance against Battery Creek wasn’t the easiest game as I remember it being one of the most physically demanding games all year, of course behind Hanahan though. In the last 5 seconds of the game, a Battery Creek fan had to be escorted out for causing a commotion, unhappy with the results of the game. It seems like most region games have at least some sort of unsportsmanlike activity. Speaking of dirty play and obnoxious fans, you can’t talk about that without naming North Charleston. Home or away, North Charleston never seems to bring any sort of sportsmanship with them, or even good refs. They have a similar play style to Hanahan and they use their physicality to overpower teams and take advantage of a lack of foul calls. The Boys basketball team was up 7 going into halftime at North Charleston. However, after running out of steam in the second half and an overall offensive breakdown from the team, the boys would fall 63-46 in the first meeting of the two teams. The second meeting against North Charleston would be played at Magnet which would help only a little in decreasing the overall hostility of North Charleston nation. The boys again came out strong in the first half going into halftime with another 7 point lead. This time, the Raptors were determined to beat NC, as they aren’t any better than our team is. With an 8 point lead with a minute-30 left in the game, it looked like the Raptors were going to split the two-game series between NC. However, some questionable calls later and some untimely turnovers by the Raptors allowed NC to tie the game up and force OT. In overtime, the boy’s team had just run out of steam again, losing a close one 61-57. Even after an impressive comeback for NC, it just wasn’t enough as their fans continued to berate our players and I was personally cussed out by multiple NC players on my way back to my bench. My mom was even threatened by an irate mother on the NC side who said she “would beat…[my mom’s] a**.” Again, another school that seems to breed more poor-behaved fans and players than sportsman-like athletes.\
*Update*As of Tuesday night, Hannahan lost to BE, meaning that the boy’s team secured a playoff spot and 4th in Region 6, 3A. The Raptors will face off against Lakeview, a number 1 seed from Sumter, South Carolina. The game is scheduled for next Wednesday, February 16th at Lakeview.