“A habit is something that you pick up and let go of sometimes, Pellman has said on many occasions. Traditions go on forever and ever. That’s how we look at it. We don’t want to break the tradition.” -- Edward Pellman, former Orangeburg-Wilkinson girls’ basketball coach in 2000.

Every day Joshua Staley arrives to work at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, he gets a reminder of the significance of his duties as varsity girls’ basketball coach.

Posted on the school walls outside the gymnasium are three of the four full-size team portraits of the Bruinettes’ state championship teams of 1987, 1991 and 2000. A fourth photo of the 2002 state championship team is shown prominently on the wall near the entrance inside the Bruins’ Den, where the 20-plus region titles hang with the four title banners.

Once Staley enters his office, there’s a framed article from a 1991 T&D article about the Bruinettes’ 1991 state championship victory over Hartsville.

The man who led that team and O-W’s three other state championship winners whose office Staley now occupies is also the one most responsible for building the program’s winning tradition -- the late Edward Pellman. Since Staley was hired in August 2006, he has more than accepted the responsibility of maintaining a winning legacy Pellman established in 19 seasons at the helm.

“Coach Pellman established a great tradition at O-W,” said Staley in a T&D interview shortly after his hiring. “But, I’m not trying to be Coach Pellman. I’m just trying to go there and work as hard as Coach Pellman worked.”

As the Bruinettes (24-4) look to win their 15th consecutive game and add another Class 4-A title at 7 p.m. tonight against Spring Valley (26-1) at the Colonial Life Arena, “tradition” is once again the buzzword among the players. Though none of the current seniors had an opportunity to play for Pellman (who died in August 2003), keeping his memory and the championship legacy he built after replacing the program’s first head coach John E. Brunson remains a source of motivation.

“Maintaining the tradition is not easy because you have people who work constantly every year after year and as you come into a program as a Bruinette, you have to keep the tradition going,” senior forward Cherisha Floyd said. “Letting the tradition die is not an option at O-W.”

The Bruinettes have accomplished that so far this season by rebounding from a slow start to win the Region 5-AAAA title, extending their home playoff winning streak dating back to 1998 to 20 games and advancing to the championship game for the 10th time in school history.

“Every day, every day,” said senior forward Erika Sumpter about Pellman’s influence. “It’s his gym. It’s his gym. If we’re doing it for anybody, it’s for him still.”

Few current players are as ingrained in the program’s “tradition” than Sumpter. Her mother, Sandra, was an All-State forward who played on two state championship runner-up teams.

Those footsteps Erika had to follow became more daunting with her older sister and team assistant coach Brittany. A five-year player, Sumpter won two Class 4-A titles and remains the program’s only “Miss South Carolina Basketball” recipient and two-time Coaches Association of Women’s Sports Class 4-A Player of the Year.

As a senior, Sumpter leads the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game and rebounding at nine boards per game. In the 46-41 Lower State final victory over Goose Creek, fellow seniors Floyd and Shawanda Hanton carried the offense with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

It’s been a total team effort for the Bruinettes, who have allowed an average of 40 points per game this season. They now face a Lady Vikings’ team which has won 25 straight games and has held opponents to 39.1 points per game and were 3-0 this season against Region 5-AAAA teams Dutch Fork and Irmo.

Though the two teams have not met this decade, O-W and Spring Valley’s Anne Long share a long history dating back to 1987, when the Bruinettes defeated her Union team in the Upper State finals. O-W also defeated Long’s Dutch Fork teams in the 2002 state final and last year’s second round of the Class 4-A playoffs.

Another victory would add another chapter to the Bruinettes’ legacy.

“It’s not about wins, not about losses,” Sumpter said. “It’s about living up to the tradition.”

Class 4-A Girls’ State Championship

Orangeburg-Wilkinson Bruinettes (24-1) vs. Spring Valley Lady Vikings (26-1)

When: 7 p.m., tonight

Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia

HEAD COACHES: O-W -- Joshua Staley (third season); Spring Valley -- Anne Long (first season)

AFFILIATIONS: Orangeburg-Wilkinson (Region 5-AAAA); Spring Valley (Region 4-AAAA)

Players and roster numbers

(ORANGEBURG-WILKINSON)

3 - Kimberly Henderson (5-8, guard, junior)

4 - Daiveena Kemp (5-4, guard, senior)

5 - Janee’ Simmons (6-0, forward, junior)

11 - Jasmine Carson (5-5, guard, sophomore)

12 - Jasmine Fox (5-6, guard, sophomore)

14 - Shameka Daniels (6-0, forward, senior)

15 - Shawanda Hanton (6-0, guard, senior)

22 - Kristine Jordan (5-6, guard, senior)

25 - Cherisha Floyd (6-0, forward, senior)

32 - Bethany Haigler (5-11, forward, sophomore)

33 - Darian James (5-10, forward, sophomore)

34 - Daniela Tinker (5-10, forward, junior)

42 - Erica Sumpter (6-2, forward, senior)

44 - Lasherria Sprinkle (5-10, forward, sophomore)

(SPRING VALLEY)

2 - Briana Robinson (5-5, guard, sophomore)

3 - Kelcee Dozier (5-11, forward, freshman)

11 - Jazmin Bostick (5-5, guard, freshman)

21 - Courtney Legette (5-7, guard, junior)

22 - Amelia Dozier (5-11, guard, senior)

23 - Shaquita Walker (5-3, guard, freshman)

24 - Tayana Albritton (5-7, guard, senior)

25 - Kynyatta Simmons (5-7, forward, sophomore)

31 - Asia Dozier (5-9, guard, freshman)

32 - Jasmine Ruff (5-4, guard, junior)

33 - Jocelyn Lawrence (6-1, forward, sophomore)

34 - Xylina McDaniel (6-1, forward, freshman)

51 - Savonia Bryan (5-10, forward, sophomore)

52 - Elikia Spann (5-10, forward, senior)

54 - Ciara Robinson (5-9, forward, senior)

HOW THE TWO TEAMS GOT HERE: Orangeburg-Wilkinson (def. West Ashley 80-38; def. Wando 74-40; def. Aiken 49-40; def. Goose Creek 46-41 to win Lower State title); Spring Valley (def. Gaffney 52-48; def. J.F. Byrnes 70-49; def. Blythewood 56-47; def. Dorman 60-57 to win Upper State title)

NUMBER OF STATE TITLE APPEARANCES: Orangeburg-Wilkinson (10) -- 1976, 1977, 1986-88, 1990-92, 2002; Spring Valley (1) -- 1978

NUMBER OF STATE TITLES WON: Orangeburg-Wilkinson (4) -- def. Eau Claire (1987 Class 4-A title); def. Hartsville (1991 Class 4-A title); def. Summerville (2000 Class 4-A title); def. Dutch Fork (2002 Class 4-A title)

Spring Valley (1) -- def. Lexington (1978 Class 4-A title)

DID YOU KNOW?: Orangeburg-Wilkinson is seeking to become the third Class 4-A team this decade to win three state titles ... This is the third team Spring Valley head coach Anne Long is coaching in the postseason against O-W ... The Bruinettes’ Erika Sumpter is looking to follow in the footsteps her older sister, Brittany Sumpter, who won two state titles. Their mother, Sandra, played in back-to-back state titles in 1976 and 1977. Erika leads the Bruinettes in scoring (11.5 per game) and rebounds (nine per game) ... The Lady Vikings’ Xylinda McDaniel is the daughter of former A.C. Flora standout and NBA All-Star Xavier McDaniel and Amelia and Asia Dozier are the daughters of former University of South Carolina forward Perry Dozier. Amelia Dozier was selected to play in the North Carolina-South Carolina game taking place at the Carolinas All-Star Classic March 21 at Socastee High School. The same day will see O-W’s Sumpter and Shawanda Hanton and Bethune-Bowman’s Laquanda Hamilton represent the South team in the North-South Senior All-Star Game taking place at North Myrtle Beach High School. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler’s Shalika Smalls will play on the North team ... Orangeburg-Wilkinson is the host team in tonight’s final.

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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