Wade Hampton started off the boys basketball season with two victories over local rivals.
The Red Devils' successful defeat of Allendale-Fairfax on Friday gave the team just what it needed to get over the first game jitters.
They went into Saturday night's game against Ridgeland focused and prepared to win, and that's just what they did.
Their determination yielded a 67-53 triumph over their rival while a packed gymnasium soaked in every move these young athletes made.
The gymnasium was bursting at the seams with spectators on the stage, on the floor and even standing to experience every shot.
The Red Devils were up by seven points at the top of the second quarter. Midway through the third quarter they were up by eight, 34-26. By the end of the third quarter they held onto that lead and better with the board showing 47-35 Wade Hampton.
"We are learning to do a better job of boxing out," coach Shelby Strother said. "Our offense was better in the second game after the nerves wore off. We are playing a new ‘guard-oriented' and ‘Cory-oriented' game due to the lack of height this year. We rely heavily on the guards and on Cory.
"We've never had to do a lot of that in the past so the game is different; our style of play is different. Everybody has to find somebody, box out and hit the board. We are working on it. We are 2-0 so that‘s a pretty good start."
So who is this Cory person? WHHS senior Cory Magwood scored a phenomenal 42 points against Ridgeland. This young man doesn't just play basketball though. Magwood spent most of this year's football season breaking records.
He tied Darantzy Brunson's school record with 15 quarterback sacks for a season. With 39 tackles for a loss, he set the school record for career total, season total and game total. Magwood's football career totals run high with 275 tackles, 171 solo tackles, 104 assisted tackles, and 31 quarterback sacks.
There's more; add Beta Club, Teacher Cadet and several other affiliations and you may begin to think we should all live a ‘Cory-oriented' life.
Things did not go as well for the Red Devil girls, who lost to Ridgeland 48-38 Saturday.
This loss came on the heels of a win over Allendale-Fairfax the previous night. Coach Romon Gray remains optimistic about the remainder of the season and suggests we keep an eye on several key players, such as Lindsay Tuten and Patience Campbell.
"We have good guards and just have to get our post players interacting with them. We have to focus on defense," Gray said. "This year we are preparing for Silver Bluff. That's our goal, to defeat Silver Bluff. If we are prepared for them we are prepared for just about anything."
Wade Hampton is set to face Allendale-Fairfax again on the road Friday, host Eau Claire on Saturday and travel to Battery Creek next Tuesday.