WESTMINSTER – The West-Oak High School wrestling team was eliminated from the Class 3A Upper State Duals with a 34-24 loss at Lugoff-Elgin on Monday, ending the season for the area’s 3A teams.

However, several area wrestlers qualified to continue their own seasons at the Upper State Individual Qualifying meet via a top-four finish at last week’s Western 3A Championship at West-Oak, highlighted by six Warriors winning region titles in their respective weight classes.

West-Oak’s region champs were Brandon Croney (103 pounds), Bill Sexton (119), Joseph Winkler (145), Randy Warren (152), Josh Hunnicutt (160) and Phillip Kern (171). Timothy Rogers (2nd place, 112), Matt Rigdon (4th, 125), Nick Bower (2nd, 135), Chris Wellborn (2nd, 140), Travis Lee (4th, 152), Matthew Westbury (2nd, 189) and Trevor Kirk (4th, 275) also qualified for Upper State from West-Oak.

Seneca had one region champ in Chris Robinson (215), while Paul Stewart (2nd, 103), Dominic Piccirillo (3rd, 130), Willie Hambrick (2nd, 145) and Jalen Hunter (3rd, 275) also punched their tickets to Upper State.

Daniel had eight Upper State qualifiers of its own:Johnny Hayes (4th, 112), Kevin Aucoin (4th, 119), Kyle Sayre (3rd, 135), Brad Martin (4th, 140), Anthony Cerqua (4th, 145), Cullen Holland (3rd, 152), Chris Cobas (4th, 171) and Seth Galbraith (4th, 215).

The Upper State meet is set for Feb. 19-20 at Eastside High School.

___ Daniel 53 Pickens 49 (girls’basketball) CENTRAL – The Daniel High School girls’basketball team held off a strong fourth-quarter rally from Pickens on Tuesday night for a 53-49 victory that secured the Western 3A region championship for the Lions.

Daniel (19-2, 9-0 Western 3A) was led offensively by Sherece Smith, who finished with a gamehigh 19 points.

Allison Droddy also finished in double figures for the Lions with 10 points.

The Lions will close the regular season tonight against rival Seneca at 6 p.m.

Daniel 53, Pickens 49 PHS 8 9 12 20 – 49 DWD 10 19 10 14 – 53 Pickens (49) – Morgan 14, McJunkin 12, Hunter 7, Roach 6, Hayes 4, White 4, Robinson 2.

Daniel (53) – Smith 19, A. Droddy 10, Schmidt 8, Dotson 5, Simpson 4, Hoover 3, Garrett 2, Qualkinbush 2.

Hampton Park 27 OCA 23 SENECA – The Oconee Christian Academy girls’basketball team closed its season on Tuesday night with a 27-23 loss to Hampton Park.

The Warriors (11-10) were led offensively by Alexandra Cloer, who finished with nine points.

Hampton Park 27, OCA 23 HP 4 9 12 2 – 27 OCA 6 4 9 4 – 23 HP (27) – Marrah 14, Riviera 5, Henderson 2, Lee 2, Reed 2, Wise 2.

OCA (23) – A. Cloer 9, G. Cloer 6, Jones 2, Lorang 2, Poole 2.

___ Daniel 74 Pickens 60 (boys’basketball) CENTRAL – The Daniel High School boys’basketball team outscored Pickens 24-5 in the first quarter on Tuesday night on the way to a 74-60 victory.

The Lions (17-3, 9-0 Western 3A) were led by D’Andre Draper with 18 points and Shaq Lawson with 13 points, while Zack Hellard and Justin Dotson finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Daniel will close the regular season tonight by hosting rival Seneca at 7:30 p.m.

Daniel 74, Pickens 60 PHS 5 13 23 19 – 60 DWD 24 12 29 9 – 74 Pickens (60) – Lawson 20, Harrison 18, Hawkins 16, Melton 3, Davis 2, Bishop 1.

Daniel (74) – Draper 18, Lawson 13, Hellard 11, Dotson 10, Hopkins 8, Smith 8, Cannon 6.

Hampton Park 53 OCA 42 SENECA – On Tuesday, the Oconee Christian Academy boys’basketball team at home on Senior Night to Hampton Park by a final score of 53-42.

The Warriors (8-12, 1-5 SCACS Piedmont) were led by Matt Ellis with 18 points.

OCA will play at Oakwood on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. in a play-in game for the SCACS State Tournament.

Hampton Park 53, OCA 42 HP 18 9 13 13 – 53 OCA 6 11 11 14 – 42 HP (53) – Woods 12, Darwin 10, Pierce 7, Swavoly 6, Martin 5, Pegcam 5, Peepy 4, Baggett 2, Paglivca 2.

OCA (42) – Ellis 18, Warns 9, Jones 6, K. Helgeland 4, Gaines 3, Mahoney 2.

COACHES:High school results may be reported to The Journal by calling the Sports desk directly at (864) 882-2386 or via e-mail at sportsed@dailyjm.com.

February 10, 2010 | Journal, The (Seneca, SC)
Author/Byline: THE JOURNAL STAFF | Page: 2B | Section: Sports