The 2022-2023 basketball season brought with it a new era at Boiling Springs. Craig Martin came to BSHS after 13 seasons at Myrtle Beach High School. The season got off to a bit of a rough start as the Bulldogs dropped their first 2 games to Clover and Wren on the road. The Clover game was a heartbreaker in which they fell by a point 57-56. At Wren, they struggled against a good team and lost by 18.
Martin has a set identity for his team – to play aggressively and physically on both sides of the ball with an emphasis on strong defense that forces a lot of turnovers. That identity was certainly on display Friday night in their home opener against Chesnee, as Boiling Springs cruised to an 83-62 win.
The Bulldogs got a big turnover right off the rip after Junior Guard Landon Sprouse picked off a pass and flew down the court for a layup to start what would be a 7-0 run. Boiling Springs only added to it, pulling out to a 30-12 lead through a quarter behind Senior Point Guard Tre Locklear (4-5 shooting with 8 points), Senior Shooting Guard WJ Fowler (2-2 from 3 point range with 6 points), and Senior Forward Dom Johnson (6 points).
Credit to Chesnee, though. Coach Pitt’s Eagles were not phased by the slow start. Instead, they managed to fight their way back behind a valiant effort from Junior Guard Noah Mvula and Senior Guard Carson Williamson, who combined for 12 of the Eagles’ 20 points in the quarter. At the half, Chesnee had cut the deficit to just 10, trailing 42-32.
These 2 teams actually have very similar approaches. Chesnee has a couple of good shooters on their team to watch out for. Aside from Carson Williamson, who finished the night with 13 points, Junior Guard/Forward Daniel Wease and Freshman Forward Elijah Brown, all showed their potential to be scoring threats for the Eagles from anywhere on the floor. The Eagles also play physical and go after the ball on defense and they are not afraid to foul.
In the end, the difference in the game aside from the obvious depth, was 2 names you are going to end up hearing a lot this season – Tre Locklear and Dom Johnson.
Locklear, who is committed to play for Limestone University, is nearly unstoppable in the paint. In this game, he went 15-24 with 32 points, with 12 of those 15 makes coming inside the arch. He was 2 for 6 from 3 point range and was also strong on defense with 3 steals and a block.
Dom Johnson put together a double double, shooting 10 for 14 to go along with a perfect 6-6 effort at the freethrow line for 26 points while also logging 15 rebounds. Defensively, Johnson added 2 steals and a block.
Sophomore Guard/Forward Reese Walter was the only other Bulldog scorer to come close to double digits, going 2-2 in the paint and 5 for 7 from the charity stripe with 9 points.
Boiling Springs, now 1-2 on the season, has a tough stretch of 3 games in 5 days starting with a road trip to Union County on Tuesday night with tip set for 7:45 PM, a home game with Clover Wednesday with an 8:00 tipoff, and a rematch at Chesnee on Friday at 7:30.
The Eagles, now 1-5, will also play an incredibly tough 3 games in 5 days this week, battling Broome on the road Monday Night at 7:30, Chapman at the Eagles’ Nest Wednesday at 7:30, and as mentioned earlier, hosting a rematch with the Bulldogs on Friday.
