NMB Chiefs lose by 58-47 to rival Myrtle Beach in the third round of 6AAAA playoffs

The buzzer sounded last Tuesday night at the Myrtle Beach High School gym and a disappointed North Myrtle Beach Chiefs team slowly collected themselves and formed a line to go through the usual handshakes and “good game” with the Seahawks.

 Coach Ryan Walker had paced and watched the scoreboard the last minutes of the game trying to will free throws to go in and looking at Chiefs shots bounce off the rim. Each miss and Seahawks basket meant the Chiefs chances for a trip to the Lower State Championship in Florence were further from reality.

The Chiefs had gotten to the third round of the playoffs by travelling across the state twice, first beating Hilton Head and then making the trek to North Augusta, where they upset them 60-55. Myrtle Beach had beaten Midland Valley and upset a number one seed as they dispatched Colleton County to set up the third meeting between the Chiefs and Seahawks.

The Chiefs lost to Myrtle Beach at home in January and thought they had returned the favor on February 7 when the Chiefs led the Seahawks most of the game, once by 16 points, only to see a late rally by Myrtle Beach tie the game up and send it to overtime where the Seahawks took the game by a 68-62 score.

The pain of that second loss seemed to hang over the Chiefs as the playoff game began. The Chiefs and Seahawks seemed unsettled as the game got underway, with the words missed shot, travel, turnover and steal written on my game notes. Myrtle Beach finally broke the scoreless drought with a layup basket with 4:57 left in the quarter. They added two free throws on separate trips to the line for a 4-0 lead, until Chad Beasley drove to the basket, was fouled and added a free throw and the Chiefs were down 4-3 with 3:22 on the scoreboard.

Twenty seconds later Emorie Knox knocked down a three-pointer to make it 7-3. The Chiefs missed on their trip down the court and Myrtle Beach took the ball the length of the court for a basket and three-point play. Cameron Gore-Gause was fouled nineteen seconds later and made two free throws with 2:08 left in the quarter. Unfortunately, that 10-5 score was as close as the Chiefs would get. They managed only three points by Javi Marlowe the rest of the quarter, while the Seahawks scored three baskets, the last basket a drive by Knox with one second left. Knox added a free throw and Myrtle Beach led 17-8 after eight minutes.

The Chiefs tried to rally in the second quarter, with a three-pointer by Travis Collins and a driving basket by Beasley with 4:22 left in the half getting the Chiefs within three points at 21-18.  Emorie Knox  responded with a basket and free throw and a 24-18 Seahawks lead with 4:11 on the clock.

The final four minutes were not kind to Chiefs faithful. North Myrtle Beach added one free throw from Malik Livingston but missed shots in every other offensive possession. Myrtle Beach hit a jumper, a drive for two at the basket and a free throw for a 29-19 halftime lead.

The second half began with the Seahawks stealing the Chiefs inbound pass and laying it in. Chad Beasley answered with a layup at the 7:23 mark and Kymani Knox scored underneath and the Chiefs trailed 31-23. Coach Walker called a timeout with 6:32 left in the quarter to steady the Chiefs but immediately thereafter the Chiefs missed a three-pointer and the Seahawks followed with a transition bucket and a 34-23 lead. The two teams then traded points until Kymani Knox scored three baskets in a row to cut the Myrtle Beach lead to 42-34 with under two minutes in the quarter and neither team was able to score further as the third quarter ended.

The two teams continued their scoring drought in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter until Beasley hit two free throws with 6:09 left on the clock. Myrtle Beach called a quick timeout with their lead cut to 42-36.

The Chiefs kept their rally going with Knox scoring underneath and a 42-38 Seahawk advantage, but the Chiefs missed four free throws on two trips to the foul line. Myrtle Beach made two and it was 44-38 with 5:06 left in the game.

The Seahawks hit two more free throws with 4:31 left, while the Chiefs went cold again, missing shots and turning the ball over, while Myrtle Beach took advantage of Chiefs mistakes with quick transition baskets to grow their lead to 54-38 and 2:16 remaining in the game.

The Chiefs refused to give up. They scored on a Livingston drive and three-pointers by Marlowe and Rogan Vincent to cut the Myrtle Beach lead to 54-46 but with only 1:12 left in the game, it wasn’t enough. The Chiefs were forced to foul and the Seahawks made all of those free throws to put the game away. The 58-47 final score gave the Seahawks the trip to Florence for the lower state championship game while the Chiefs team and fans filed out thinking about another tough loss to Myrtle Beach.

The Chiefs were led by Chad Beasley’s 12 points, Kymani Knox’s 11 points and Javi Marlowe’s 10 points. Emorie Knox and James Marques scored 38 of the Seahawks 58 points. Both teams shot close to 50 percent and Myrtle Beach had only one three-pointer (the Chiefs had three). The difference in the game came down to free throws. Myrtle Beach converted on 19 of 26 from the line and the Chiefs only hit on 10 out of 26 from the charity stripe.

The Chiefs still finished their year 20-6 and first-year coach Ryan Walker took the Chiefs into the playoffs and gave the North Myrtle Beach community something to cheer about and something to look forward to next year. If you happen to see any of the coaches and players, shake their hands and give them a well-deserved “good season.”