BOWMAN – In winning five state titles in 10 years, Calhoun County has built its reputation by winning on the road.

Like conquering invaders from past lore, the Saints seemingly thrive on entering a hostile opponent’s gymnasium and coming away with a victory.

“I tell people all the time we’re dangerous on the road,” Calhoun County head coach Zam Fredrick said. “My guys really concentrate well when we’re on the road.”

On Wednesday, ninth-ranked Bethune-Bowman looked to send the Class A champions back to St. Matthews with a season-opening loss. Instead, Calhoun County stormed into the Mohawks’ gym and rolled out with a 71-39 victory.

In picking up career win number 431 for Fredrick to leave him one shy of tying Artie Knight Jr. for most victories by a T&D Region boys’ basketball coach, the Saints controlled the game with their usual lethal dose of transition basketball.

Whether it was players like J.R. (formerly Henry) Johnson scoring 11 points, getting strong play upfront from sophomore Alshon Jeffrey, who finished with 13 points, and Edwin Riley, who added 10, or limiting preseason Top Five senior guard Shelton Brown to just 13 points, Calhoun County more than justified its preseason number-one ranking.

Before the home crowd had a chance to get excited, the Saints (1-0) put the Mohawks in a 7-0 hole. As usual, their smoldering, frenetic fullcourt pressure defense served to ignite their offense, which capitalized offˇ17 of Bethune-Bowman’s 22 first-half turnovers in the opening period.

“We set the tone early with the pace and how we wanted the game to be played,” Fredrick said. “Even though we didn’t capitalize on a lot of (the turnovers), the script was set early. The tone was set early. There were times when (Bethune-Bowman) tried to push back on us, but my guys, we’re going to get this done tonight.

“Early on, we set that pace and the turnovers started to come and, more or less, the handwriting was on the wall.”

Bethune-Bowman (0-1) did not score its first field goal until the 2:25 mark of the first quarter. The Saints then responded with seven straight points to increase their lead to 18-4.

This would begin a trend as any positive momentum for the Mohawks would get stifled quickly. After Brown brought the Mohawk faithful to its feet with the first of two soaring slam dunks, he was quickly assessed a technical for hanging on the rim.

The Saints’ David Glover would make 1-2 free throws and Calhoun County closed the first quarter with eight unanswered points to take a 27-8 advantage.

“It was only 17. I thought it was about 30,” said Mohawks’ head coach Troy Johnson about the first-quarter turnovers. “That was how it looked. We came out and played the number-one team and we looked like we didn’t belong on the floor with them.”

While Bethune-Bowman drastically reduced its turnovers as Calhoun County slowed down the pace, its deficit continued to grow. With Jeffrey, Riley and Jermen (pronounced Jeremy) Bonnett, who scored all eight points in the first half, controlling the offensive boards, the Saints increased its lead as many as 25 points before entering the locker room with a 42-21 advantage.

“They outrebounded us and we turned the ball over,” Johnson said. “It took those two factors for (Calhoun County) to win.”

The second half started in similar fashion as the first. Calhoun County scored eight unanswered points to open the third quarter, then ended it with a 5-0 run to go up 64-28 entering the fourth quarter.

Bethune-Bowman outscored Calhoun County 11-7 in the final quarter, but the outcome was already well-decided before the final buzzer.

Fredrick will now get his first shot at tying Knight in the record books this Friday against Branchville at home. Should the Saints win, he will look to surpass the former Holly Hill and Orangeburg-Wilkinson coaching great at home against Bethune-Bowman on Tuesday.

“Now that I think about it, and all of the very good coaches that have been in this area and I’m about to surpass all of them is quite a feat,” he said. “I’m humbled by it.”

While Bethune-Bowman’s boys were humbled, its eight-ranked girls’ basketball team survived a furious fourth-quarter rally to gain a 51-48 victory over the Lady Saints.

The Lady Mohawks (1-0) led as many as 11 points sparked by the play of Jasmine Shuler with 17 points, Laquanda Williams with 16 points and 20 rebounds and Mya Berry with 10. The Lady Mohawks also committed 19 turnovers and were especially vulnerable in the fourth quarter to the Lady Saints’ fullcourt pressure.

As the Lady Mohawks began to unravel, the Lady Saints slowly closed the gap behind the scoring of Zandria Fredrick. Down 51-43, Fredrick scored five straight points off a short jumper and three-point play to finish with 17 points.

With 19.4 seconds left, the Lady Saints (0-1) forced the Lady Mohawks’ 19th turnover of the game and had a chance to force overtime.

However, Calhoun County two opportunities at game-tying three-point attempts came up empty.

Bethune-Bowman travels to Lake Marion on Saturday.

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