Rival high schools ready for battle

With high school football season officially over, attention is turning to the winter sports calendar. Few early-season contests mean as much as tonight's boys' and girls' basketball games between Aiken and South Aiken high schools.

Despite playing in different classes and having varying degrees of expectations, tonight's games at South Aiken High School mean a great deal for all involved. Regardless of the sport, it's always a rivalry when these schools compete.

"In one sense, you hate to have this game this early in the season," Aiken varsity girls coach Aubrey Pompey said. "It's going to be competitive. Hopefully we'll be ready and use it to get better."

Coming off of a very good season in 2008-09, and a major roster turnover, the Aiken girls' expectations are to do even better this season. Although all five starters from last year's squad are gone, Pompey believes he has a good nucleus of returning players to vie for a region championship. They will get a chance to make an impact tonight against a South Aiken squad that is coming off a very tough 2008-09 campaign.

"We've got a relatively young team as far as playing time," Pompey said. "It could be an interesting year. They're talented; all of them can play."

Among the players Pompey will be counting on are seniors Deidre Price and Kashonda Henderson, as well as juniors Amber Johnson and Ashley Winfield.

"Deidre is our top returning player, and Ashley is a versatile player and should have a major impact," said Pompey, who in more than 20 years as Aiken's girls coach has successfully dealt with major roster changes.

While the girls' team is dealing with a new roster and looking to set a rotation in tonight's game, the Aiken boys are looking to fine-tune a fairly established group.

"We have nine returning varsity players," varsity boys coach Tony Harrell said. "This is as experienced a bunch as I've had."

Like the Aiken girls, the goal for the boys team this season is to win the region championship. To do that, the Hornets will rely on shutdown defense and opportunistic scoring.

"Defense is where we make a living. We pride ourselves on defense and will primarily play man-to-man," Harrell said of a squad that will try to turn defense into easy scoring chances. "We want to be able to score in transition. We want to get the ball up the court as fast as possible, make good decisions and score on the break."

The main cog in that transition attack will be senior point guard Trondell Long. Listed at 5-foot-8, whatever Long lacks in size he compensates for with speed and ball-handling skills.

"He makes everything go for us. When he plays well, the team plays well," Harrell said.

Justin Maxwell is another senior guard being counted on to help deliver the Hornets a good season. The team's top returning scorer will get a chance to help Aiken overcome an inconsistent 1-1 start to the season tonight.

He'll face a South Aiken squad that is also focused on winning a region title. Rather than giving the ball to one or two go-to players, South Aiken is counting on a balanced team, where every player has a role for the team to be successful.

"We've got a good group of guys, and each does something well," South Aiken varsity boys coach Kelly Nichols said. "We've got a good core of seniors, and we'll rely on experience. Hopefully we'll make some noise in February and early March."

Noise could be a factor tonight. It won't be easy for either team in an atmosphere that could mirror playoff intensity.

"It's good to play big games early in the year. It will prepare us for region," Nichols said.

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Harrell said. "Kelly Nichols does an outstanding job at South Aiken, and it should be a great environment for high school basketball."

If the players aren't already familiar with their crosstown counterparts, they will be before long. As intense as tonight's games might be, they are just the first round in the season series which will resume next week.

"The winner at least will have bragging rights for a week," Harrell said.

Contact Noah Feit at nfeit@aikenstandard.com.

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