North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
By John Smithson
The North Myrtle Beach Chiefs boys basketball team completed the 2025 portion of their schedule with a win over West Florence and their annual Shootout by the Sea Tournament at home.
The Chiefs started last week with a second meeting against West Florence. The Chiefs lost 41-33 at West Florence on December 2nd but played much better last Tuesday night and beat the Knights 66-59.
The Chiefs Caden Bass made two free throws to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead and Primere Lewis added on with a three-point play and then a three-point shot from the top of the key for a 13-4 lead. Luke Barrett followed with a three-pointer about thirty seconds later and the Chiefs led 16-4 with 3:32 left in the first quarter.
The Knights stayed even with the Chiefs the rest of the quarter despite baskets by Lewis, Jayden Chestnut and Vereen for a 22-11 first quarter lead.
The Chiefs had a strong second quarter opening as Porter Anglin made a free throw after a rebound foul, Mason Walker hit a three from the corner, Anglin drove the lane for two points and Bass hit a three-pointer for a 31-11 Chiefs lead. Bass then hit another three-pointer as the Chiefs built a 39-22 halftime lead.
Mason Walker opened the third quarter with a three from the corner, Lewis hit a corner jumper, and it was 44-24. The Knights scored six straight points to trail 44-30 and the third quarter ended with the Chiefs on top 52-36.
The Knights came out strong in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Chiefs 9-2 and with 6:07 on the clock Chiefs coach Ryan Walker called timeout leading 54-45. The Knights kept the pressure on and cut the Chiefs lead to 56-50 with half the quarter to play.
Walker scored for the chiefs on a layup and Bass added a basket on an inbound play, as the Chiefs went up 60-50. The Chiefs turned the ball over three times to watch their lead shrink to 60-56. The Knights fouled Lewis and he converted one shot at the line. Bass was fouled and he hit two shots for a 63-56 lead.
The Knights got a three-pointer to cut the margin to 63-59 with :23.9 on the clock. They could not get another point, while the Chiefs scored one and then two points from the free throw line to ice the game, the final 66-59.
The Chiefs had four players in double figures in the game. Bass had 16 points, Lewis 14 points, Anglin 12 and Walker with 10 points and two threes.
Coach Walker was happy with the win but had seen them lose early leads in games they lost before. “The nature of our team is that they are not very experienced. We got out there and played well against West Florence in the first half and played well into the third quarter. Their number four player is a really good player, and he got going and made a couple of threes and we didn’t hit our shots.”
“But we battled through it. That’s why you play these non-region games. We get in these games and they play well enough; we compete hard enough but then go through these droughts. They are learning on the fly. Almost all of these players, even the seniors and juniors, don’t have a lot of game experience.”
“We had an old team last year with more experience. Now we have three freshmen and even our juniors and seniors that haven’t had varsity minutes. Everything is on the fly. But they are learning. They have been doing really well and learning about each other and the game,” Walker said.
The Chiefs followed the game against West Florence with their pre-Christmas Shootout by the Sea Tournament. The Chiefs lost to First Baptist of Charleston by a 48-46 score last Saturday and played Carvers Bay on Monday.
