Region 6-AAAA Game Recap: May River vs. Bluffton

A pair of teams near the lower half of the region standings were looking to improve their respective tournament prospects on Tuesday evening.    One of those squads was May River. The 2024-25 campaign began in very promising fashion for the Sharks before region play arrived. Prior to Thursday, May River had only won two of its eight contests against Region 6-AAAA foes and those victories came on the road at Hilton Head Island (overtime on Jan. 14) and at Colleton County (Jan. 28).    Bluffton – which has experienced a drop-off in success from recent seasons – has had only slightly better region fortunes than May River has had. Going into Tuesday, the Bobcats have one more region win than the Sharks do and has two wins over Colleton County plus one over Hilton Head Island.    Tuesday's matchup was the first of a home-and-home between these two teams to close out the regular season – and the first half of that home-and-home went the way of the Sharks by a final score of 40-34 over the Bobcats.    “We have tremendous respect for Bluffton,” first-year Sharks head coach Terry Kix says. “They're a high-powered program for many years and it was just nice for our seniors to be able to outwill them tonight a little bit and get the win.”   Records   May River improves to 9-9 and 3-6 against foes in Region 6-AAAA. Bluffton's mark takes a hit, dropping to 10-11 and also 3-6 in its region.   Remember What Happened Last Time?    Bluffton got the better of May River on both occasions when these two region rivals got together last season. The Bobcats defeated the Sharks at home by a final of 66-25 on Jan. 23 of the 2023-24 season and by a 52-24 margin when the scene shifted to May River.    In fact, the Sharks had not had a win over the Bobcats since January of 2020. Bluffton had won its last nine consecutive get-togethers with May River prior to Tuesday.    Quarter-By-Quarter   May River started off strong with a 4-0 run prior to it being answered by seven consecutive points courtesy of Bluffton. With one quarter in the books at The Den, the Sharks and Bobcats were all knotted up at seven points apiece.   Both teams remained close – and the majority of the offensive production for both May River and Bluffton were coming from one player through the first half. As both teams went into their respective locker rooms to discuss second half strategy, the Bobcats had the slimmest of leads – 18-17 – over the Sharks.    Whatever was said during that May River locker room powwow worked as the Sharks would outscore Bluffton by a margin of 15-6 in the third quarter. With one frame remaining, the Sharks built a 32-24 advantage over the Bobcats.    “We finally started hitting some shots,” Kix says. “We had a lot of open looks in the first half and they just weren't going down. But I think felt we did a good job on the boards. We took care of the boards offensively and defensively and made the shots we needed to.”    Bluffton made things interesting by putting together a furious comeback where it was one bucket shy of tying the matchup. May River managed to hold the Bobcats off and put its recent misfortune against Bluffton to rest.    Primetime Performers   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/02/IMG_6763.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1190041" style="width:577px;height:auto" /></figure>   Brooke Dalton appears to be saving her best for last. The May River senior led her team with a 22-point performance. Out of the 22 she scored, 12 occurred in the first half. She is one of eight seniors on this season's Sharks rendition.    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/02/IMG_6766.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1190042" style="width:583px;height:auto" /></figure>   The nine points that were scored by [player_tooltip player_id='833033' first='Elizabeth' last='Duncan'] also played a huge role in the Sharks victory. Duncan is a sophomore who adds a 3-point shooting dimension to a team's offense. She is one of two sophomores on this year's team.    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/02/IMG_6552-crop-2275x1494-1739381704.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-1190044" style="width:588px;height:auto" /></figure>   In spite of the defeat, Bluffton still got another big game courtesy of [player_tooltip player_id='378103' first='Amirah' last='Brown']. She concluded her evening with a 19-point performance. Brown is a fearless attacker of the rim and can make plenty of big plays on defense as well.    “We have the utmost respect for Bluffton and (Amirah) is just a phenomenal player,” Kix says. “She scored 14 points on us in the first half and we had to schematically come up with something to try to slow her down. I think we did a good job with that.”    Up Next   The second half of that Bobcats-Sharks home-and-home will be on Thursday at May River to close out the regular season for both teams.    “It's tough, it's tough having to go play them again,” Kix says. “It's going to be another battle but hopefully some of the excitement and the energy from the win will carry over to Thursday and we'll just give it our best shot.”    Other Region 6-AAAA Scores   Bishop England def. Colleton County 77-28   Beaufort def. Hilton Head Island 51-44   Region 6-AAAA Standings   Bishop England                 21-3     10-0   Beaufort                             14-8       7-2   Hilton Head Island             7-13       4-5   May River                             9-9       3-6   Bluffton                             10-11       3-6   Colleton County                6-17       1-9

A pair of teams near the lower half of the region standings were looking to improve their respective tournament prospects on Tuesday evening.