Legend. GOAT. Coach. Friend. Kind. Loving. Mother.
Those are just a fraction of the words that come to mind when people describe the late Coach Valorie Whiteside, who passed away after a battle with breast cancer nearly a year ago.
All of those words and more could be heard from her family, friends, former coaches, teammates, and members of the Inman community as she was honored by her alma mater Chapman High School during a special ceremony between the varsity girls’ and boys’ basketball games on Saturday night at the “Panther Den.”
Whiteside was the absolute greatest girls’ basketball player.. Scratch that.. She was the best player to ever set foot on the court in the orange and blue period. Following her graduation from CHS, she went on to play for Appalachian State University, where she became the all-time leading scorer in Southern Conference womens’ hoops history en route to induction in the inaugural Southern Conference Hall of Fame class. After a professional career with stops in Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc, Val returned home to South Carolina, where her legend would only grow as she put her talents on the court aside to become a coach. Val spent 11 seasons leading the Dorman girls’ basketball program, winning a couple of state titles on the way to becoming the winningest coach in its history.
Her accolades are enough to say that she earned the right to brag. But, anyone who knew Val would tell you it was just never in her character to do it, no matter how great she was on the court or on the sidelines. In fact, the one thing she seems most proud of was being a mother.
Val left behind a legacy – which includes her 2 sons Keenan and JJ Arcega-Whiteside. Keenan is currently a senior on the Dorman boys’ team and JJ was a standout wide receiver at DHS and Stanford University that also spent some time in the NFL with the Eagles, Seahawks, and Falcons. In one of the most emotional moments of the night, it was the 2 brothers that got the honor of unveiling the #33 jersey that their late mother made famous in Inman.
“It meant a lot to me to be able to unveil my mom’s jersey and solidify her name and legacy in front of an arena full of loved ones and people whose lives she had touched at the school she went to”, said Keenan, who would end up being a key part of not just the story of the festivities, but also the game, as he tied the team lead with 22 points.
“Once the game started, all of the emotions I was feeling from pre game disappeared”, said Whiteside of his performance despite the high emotions. “From the time the ref blew the whistle to the final buzzer, the only thing on my mind was just to win the game. I just so happened to score 22 points, which was awesome.”
The celebration was not only special for the Whiteside family. It also touched Dorman head coach Thomas Ryan.
“It was a special night. Chapman did a fantastic job with the ceremony. It had to be special for Keenan and his brother JJ. The family means a lot to me personally, but also to our Dorman community. To come here and them celebrate her and retire her jersey was really neat.”
Harkening back to Keenan’s comments, from the opening whistle, things got off to a bit of a slow start for the Cavaliers. Dorman was able to take a lead behind 6 points in the frame from Arcega-Whiteside, 2 of which were wide open rim-rattling slam dunks off Chapman turnovers. However, the Panthers were able to keep pace thanks to the otherwise sputtering Cavalier offense and eventually worked their way back, taking the lead 19-17 heading to the 2nd quarter on a Colt McAllister three at the horn. That lead would be short-lived and their only one of the game.
In the 2nd stanza, Jaden Johnson came to life for the Cavaliers. He scored just 6 points, but that set him on fire the rest of the way, tallying 16 points in the final 16 minutes of the game (10 of which came in the 3rd quarter) to tie Keenan Arcega-Whiteside for the team lead with 22. The Cavs would end up outscoring Chapman 49-21 in the 2nd half en route to the convincing 88-50 victory – their 2nd win in as many days.
“We did out normal routine”, said Coach Ryan of the short turnaround from the Cavs’ 77-49 win over Chapin Friday night. “We watched film and had a shoot around this morning and got ready. We knew Chapman would shoot a lot of threes. We didn’t do a great job early on. We got off to a slow start shooting the ball and #4 {Chapman’s Hawken Smith} really went off. But as the game went on, our athleticism took its toll on them and it was a good win for us.”
Ryan was particularly pleased with the efforts of Keenan Arcega-Whiteside and Jaden Johnson.
“I’m proud of Keenan. I thought he played one of his best games. He will lay in his bed tonight and look back and think about how special this night was to celebrate his mom and play as well as he did. He really was dominant. Jaden has been shooting the ball well. He is only a sophomore but he is an important piece for our team offensively.”
Despite the loss that was nothing short of the expected, there were plenty of positives for Chapman to look back on. The Panthers had a pair score in double figures, led by Smith with 16 points and Colby Moon with 14. They hit nine threes in the contest, which though below their average, shows they are still unafraid to stick to their established identity under Coach St Charles this season and take the shot when they have an open look. They also forced quite a few turnovers with their aggressive defense.
Dorman, who now sits at 10-3 on the season, will get back to region 2-5A action (where they are currently 1-1) this week as they host Spartanburg in the first edition of The City Rivalry this season with a 7:30 tip. Chapman (4-10) will go to Spartanburg Christian Academy on Monday at 7:30 before starting their region 3-3A schedule Friday at home against Greer Middle College. Tip is set for 7:30 in that contest as well.
