May River’s girls continued their surge into uncharted territory for the three-year-old school Thursday, advancing to the third round of the Class 3A playoffs with a 36-32 win over visiting Strom Thurmond. 

Chynna Sneed scored 16 points and Emma Peluso added 13 to lead the Sharks, who continued their dominant defensive performance. 

Video by Carlo Perruzza

Peluso made 7-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter to help May River hold on. 

The Sharks (17-7) will travel to Dillon for a matchup of region champions Monday. The Wildcats (19-0) survived a defensive struggle of their own Thursday, beating Manning 30-29.

Brookland-Cayce capped a second-half comeback with Chamar Martin’s game-winning shot with one second left to stun host Bluffton 46-45 in the first round of the boys Class 4A playoffs Wednesday.

The Bobcats led by as many as eight points in the second half before the Bearcats rallied. Bluffton was up 45-44 in the final seconds when Martin grabbed a long rebound off a teammate’s miss and hit a runner for the win. 

Video by Carlo Perruzza

Donovan Raines scored 17 points, Lee Kirkland added 11, and Tyler Rice had 10 for the Bobcats, who finish the season with a 15-8 record.

May River’s boys cruised into the second round of the Class 3A playoffs with a 62-41 home win over Loris on Tuesday. 

The Sharks doubled up the Lions 20-10 in the first quarter and extended the lead to 35-18 at halftime. 

Video courtesy Frank Sulkowski/WJCL

Deshawn Martin and Josh Patterson scored 14 points apiece and Harry Cash added 13 to lead the Sharks. 

May River (15-7) will travel to Strom Thurmond for a second-round game Friday.

Hilton Head High’s girls survived a defensive struggle Tuesday, beating visiting Darlington 33-30 in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

The Seahawks used suffocating defense and strong rebounding to hold the Falcons to eight first-half points, but they found themselves down by one with less than a minute to play before Miley Ray drove for a bucket to put Hilton Head High back on top. After forcing a Darlington turnover, freshman Kenzie Ryan hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to seal the win.

Video by Carlo Perruzza

“It’s probably as big of a win as this program has seen in the last decade,” Seahawks coach Sean Rochester said. “Our girls played together, executed our game plan and found a way to win. They embraced being an underdog against a team that was ranked in the top 10 of the SCBCA 4A state rankings almost all season. All the work they’ve put in together, and to have an amazing crowd tonight — just a great night for our program.” 

Ray led Hilton Head High with 12 points and Trinity Feltner added nine.  

The Seahawks will host seventh-ranked Myrtle Beach at 6 p.m. Friday.

May River’s girls breezed into the second round of the Class 3A playoffs with a 61-29 victory over visiting Cheraw on Monday. 

Emma Peluso scored 18 points, Jordan Bigham added 12, and Chynna Sneed had 10 for the Sharks, who were dominant on defense, holding Cheraw in single digits in each quarter. 

May River outscored Cheraw 22-9 in the second quarter to break open a defensive struggle, then outscored the Braves 22-6 in the third quarter. 

May River (16-7) will host Strom Thurmond in the second round Thursday.