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With four wins between them, the young players of Denmark Technical College and USC Salkehatchie are both hungry for wins heading into tonight's 7:30 showdown in Denmark.
Denmark Tech (2-8) is in its first year as a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association, and it has been anything but a cakewalk for the Panthers.
"We're playing quality competition night in and night out," Panthers head coach Adrian Bell said. "Practically every school you are walking in to has Division I-caliber kids or kids that can play at some level as opposed to previous seasons, we might've had one or two teams of that caliber."
Despite encountering NJCAA teams for the first time, Bell insists his team's record is not indicative of its performance.
"I think my guys understand that we've had a chance to win every game that we've played," he said. "We have 10 freshmen and right now, I don't think our chemistry is there. I don't think my kids really understand how I want them to play. We just haven't played the way we are capable of playing."
With several young players on the roster, Denmark Tech lacks experience. However, their willingness to keep playing whether they're up or down is something that Bell hopes will continue.
"We play from start to finish," he said. "Even though we make a lot of mental errors, I just think we play hard throughout the course of the game. I think my kids never die whether we're up 20 or we're down 20."
Denmark is led in scoring by Shelton Whitaker, who averages close to 23 points per game.
"He's been our go-to guy," Bell said. "He's pretty much led us in scoring in each game."
In their last game against Aiken Tech, Whitaker dropped 32 points while knocking down 10 of 11 3-point shots.
Even though he leads the Panthers in scoring, Bell says that his team is still looking for that one player to step up.
"We have a lot of guys that pretty much believe in themselves," he said, "but that proven leader has just not emerged yet."
The same holds true for Travis Garrett and his USC Salkehatchie program, which is playing basketball for the first time since 1997.
The Indians (2-13), coming off an 82-67 win over Louisburg College, feature three players -- 2007 T&D All-Area first-team pick J.R. Johnson of Calhoun County, 2007 T&D SCSHL Player of the Year Chaz Williams of Branchville and All-Area third-team selection Tristan Frazier of North -- who stared on the high school stage in the T&D Region a year ago. Johnson has started most of the season for the Indians, averaging 8.3 points per game, 3.3 assists per game and 3.7 rebounds per game. He is second in Region X, averaging 2.9 steals per game. Williams has served as a reserve for the Indians, and Frazier is redshirting. Obviously, the team is young, but Garrett said that isn't a cop-out.
"I stress to the kids that even though we're a young team, let's not make any excuses," Garrett said. "We've got to go out and compete and play hard and lay it on the line every night."
For Johnson, whose Saints' team went undefeated and won the Class A state title last season, having more losses than wins is something that he's not accustomed to.
"It's something that'll keep you up all night every night," Johnson said, "but we're all trying to work together and get better and play more as a team so that we can become a better team."
Garrett sees that potential in his team and believes their season is not lost.
"I still think that we've got a chance to make a positive run down the stretch if our guys come together and play as a unit," he said. "We can't worry about who's scoring all the points or who's getting all of the rebounds. We have to play as a unit."
Withe the two schools likely being the two closest NJCAA programs in the lower part of South Carolina, both coaches said that tonight's game is one that has been looked forward to.
"The people in the community have been bringing this game up for a very long time," Garrett said, "...especially when they found out Denmark Tech is in our region along with us being back for our first year. So, I think there have been a lot of people in the community trying to build it up. I think it'll end up being a big rivalry. The guys have been hearing about it for a while. So, we're looking forward to it."
-- T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com. --