AJ Vols sweep Demons

KERSHAW – The Andrew Jackson Volunteers launched their regular-season schedule with a home sweep of Class AAAA Lugoff-Elgin on Monday night.

Eric Rowell

Andrew Jackson’s Avalon Truesdale (30) goes to the hoop in the Volunteers’ win over North Central in the Buford Preseason Invitational. AJ, after winning the Buford tourney, pushed its mark to 3-0 with a home win over Lugoff-Elgin High on Monday night.

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The Lady Vols rolled to a 64-27 win over the Lady Demons and the 3-0 AJ boys capped the broom job with a 73-65 win over L-E.

The AJ boys, coming off the championship in the fifth annual Buford Preseason Invitational, used a balanced attack to stay unbeaten on the season.

AJ, up 35-31 at the break, saw Lugoff-Elgin rally to make it 49-48 with a period to play.

Then the Vols came on behind the play of Trey King and Tilson Kirkland.

“Those guys did an excellent job on the boards,” AJ boys coach Danny Wright said. “We give a MVP after each game and those two took the award.

“They hustled and scrambled after loose balls and rebounds.”

Kirkland tallied eight points, all in the second half.

Quadarius Fair scored 20, 13 in the final two periods. Avalon Truesdale hit 13, seven in the first half. Trey King added 12, eight in the opening two periods.

Dustin Eddins netted 11, eight in the first half.

“We had four players in double figures and two others with eight,” Wright said. “It was a good, solid effort on our part.”

Wade Eubanks scored eight and Cameron McIsaac added one.

“This was a very big win for our program,” Wright said. “I was pleased with the effort. We fought hard for four quarters and as a coach, that’s all you can ask for.”

In the girls’ game, the Lady Vols cruised to the 37-point win.

Coach Dennis Farmer’s squad bolted to a 19-2 first-period lead and used an 11-9 second-quarter surge to gain a 30-11 lead at the half.

“This was a good start for us and I thought we played good, solid defense,” Farmer said.

Dareisha Sowell led the AJ girls with 18, 12 in the second half. Elizabeth Scott scored 14, eight in the final two periods. She drilled two treys.

Bree Wright netted 10 for the winners. Summer Vick and Anslee McDow each scored five. McKenzie Horton and Brantley Ussery added four points each. Halle Thompson and Lauren Rowell chipped in two points each.

The Lady Vols hit 14 of 19 foul shots to boost their win.

“We have some weapons on our team,” Farmer said. “We were a little sloppy at times, and there were some early jitters, but overall I was pleased with our start.”

The Lady Demons were led by Samantha Jean and Dee Rodriguez who scored seven points apiece in the road loss to the Lady Vols.

AJ is idle to Friday when the Vols visit Lancaster to battle the Bruins in the first of two regular-season meetings. The girls play at 6 p.m., with the boys set to tip off at 7:30.

 Andrew Jackson hosts Lancaster on Dec. 7.