Basketball Recap: Hartsville Takes a Loss

Hartsville lost against South Florence back in January of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Saturday. The Hartsville Red Foxes fell 72-61 to the South Florence Bruins. While losing is never fun, the Red Foxes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 186th, while the Bruins are ranked 44th).

Despite the loss, Hartsville saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Kayson Dawson went 6 of 15 en route to 19 points and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Dawson has scored all season. Another player making a difference was EJ Smith, who posted eight points and six boards.

Even though they lost, Hartsville was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive games.

South Florence's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Lennix Valerie, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds. Jackson Robinson was another key player, going 7 for 11 on his way to 17 points along with eight boards and three steals.

Hartsville has traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last seven contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-12 record this season. As for South Florence, their victory bumped their record up to 10-8.

Hartsville will welcome Wilson at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Wilson is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63.2 points per game this season. South Florence has already played their next match (against Darlington), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.