Jones and Pickens team are just so nice

PICKENS — Coach Rikki Owens was a bit comical last Friday night.

Her Pickens girls basketball team had just defeated rival Easley 38-26 on their homecourt. The Lady Blue Flame team had climbed to 15-2 on the season, too.

Yet, Coach Owens laughed a bit after the victory and said: “This is one of the best teams I’ve ever coached. I have nothing to say bad about them. They are just so nice. We just need someone to step up and have that dog mentaility.”

Continued Coach Jones, “They don’t take anything personal. If somebody shoots a 3 in your face, you take that personal. So, we’ve had to really focus on our defense and get after it. All gas and no breaks mentality.”

Ava Owens and Maggie Chambers currently lead PHS in scoring with close to 17 points a game.

Boys Hoops: Pickens boys basketball coach Jeff Harrelson has had a tough season with a 4-14 overall record. Harrelson, though, still took some time to talk after his team’s loss to Easley on Friday night.

“I thought we had a good start,” said Harrelson. “They went on a little one-minute run right before theend of the first half. Then, they came out and made a run in the second half. By that time, we were down 20 (points). You can’t bury yourself like that and expect to climb out.”

Coach Jackson and his mentor: Easley Coach Derrell Jackson lights up when he talks about his former coach (Fran Campbell) at Wren High School.

“He (Campbell) got a huge win on Tuesday night (last week) at Powdersville,” said Jackson. “I’m always rooting for him. He means more to me than I can put into words. He’s always been there for me. I talk to him on the phone, but he’ll text me. He told me the other day that he misses me, but this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Calhoun and Easley Hoops: Junior Noah Calhoun seems to love the game of basketball. During the Meet the Green Wave scrimmage, Calhoun threw down some dunks in warmups with the help of some of his teammates. He took a little time to reflect on Easley’s 67-42 win over Pickens last Friday night.

“It was amazing,” Calhoun said after the victory. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for a week now. We came out with great intensity as a team. It was just an amazing moment for all of us.”