Prep highlights: St. Andrew's win streak hits 25; BC's Tuten signs with Brevard

The St. Andrew's boys basketball team rang in the new year with a familiar chord last week as the Lions rolled to wins at the St. Andrew's Holiday Classic.

The Lions, who won the GIAA Class 3A state title last season, have their main core of players back led by senior guard Zyere Edwards, who recently signed with Augusta University, and his younger brother, sophomore Zayden Edwards.

St. Andrew's extended its win streak, which dates back to last season, to 25 games as the Lions dominated Augusta Prep in a 72-28 victory before an impressive 62-53 win over Ponte Vedra of Florida (9-3), the Class 6A state runnerup last season, which entered the game ranked No. 9 among Class 4A-7A teams in Florida.

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Zyere Edwards said he had an "off" game, but the senior guard scored a game-high 24 points with three assists, while showing off his relentless defensive skills with four steals. Zayden Edwards had 15 points with seven rebounds and eight assists and newcomer Will Thompson, a sophomore who transferred in from Benedictine, added 11 points, knocking down 3 of 8 from distance as St. Andrew's improved to 11-0 on the year.

"I think we showed we can play with anyone again tonight," said Zyere Edwards, who is averaging 23.9 points with 4.5 assists and 4.2 steals per game. "A lot of people say we don't play a tough enough schedule in the GIAA, and we play with a chip on our shoulder because of that. We've proven, time and time again, we can play with anyone."

The Lions knocked off Hiram, which was ranked No. 3 in Georgia among Class 6A teams at the time, in a 71-66 tournament win on Dec. 17.

"We only lost two seniors from last year's championship team, and we've picked up right where we left off," Zayden Edwards said. "And if we win next Friday, we'll have gone a whole year without a loss. We're not really big, so we have to make sure to box out and play that lock down D. We're a team that likes to use our speed to our advantage."

Head coach Mel Abrams, in his eighth season leading the program, has his squad primed to make another run at a championship.

"I think we're even better this year," Abrams said. "We've got the Edwards brothers back, along with Kaleb Lofton and we've added Will (Thompson) who has made us a different team with his shooting ability and spacing the floor, and we added Rakari Harrison (a 6-foot-3 junior), who is helping us inside. We've got a great team and we're improving as the season goes on."

St. Andrew's is set to play in the MLK Classic in Jacksonville this weekend.

Johnson boys set to play Beach Friday

The Johnson boys basketball team, ranked No. 2 among Class 3A teams in the state by Sandysspiel.com, is set to go on the road to meet up with No. 4 Beach in a Region 3-3A matchup set for Friday night with tipoff at 7:30 p.m.

The Atom Smashers (10-2) won the Savannah Holiday Classic with a win over Groves in the finals, after Beach (10-1) lost to the Rebels in the tournament semis, for its only setback of the season.

Johnson is led by senior Antonio Baker, who is averaging 23 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.2 steals per game. Josh Quarterman, the junior transfer from Bethesda, is averaging 15.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest, while Malachi Robinson has been tough inside averaging 10.3 points and 10.2 points per game.

Beach is led by senior guard Shamarrie Huggie, who is averaging 20.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Senior guard James Leach (11 points per game, 10.5 RPG) and sophomore guard Chandler Reid (8.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 2.9 APG) are also key players for the Bulldogs.

Last year, Beach advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals, while Johnson reached the Elite Eight.

Benedictine's Tuten signs with Brevard College

Benedictine's Kaden Tuten set his future in motion Wednesday as the standout Cadet baseball player signed with Brevard College, a Division III program in North Carolina.

Tuten, a right-handed pitcher, had a big-time performance to pick up a save with 2 1/3 strong innings in a state quarterfinal win over Troup County last year. He was 2-1 with a 3.74 ERA on the season, and made a strong impression with his travel team over the summer.

"Kaden is a versatile player who can play in the outfield and infield, and most importantly pitch for us," BC coach Kevin Farmer said. "He's a hard worker and student of the game who is always working on his craft. I think he'll have an expanded role as a position player for us this season."

Tuten is an 'A' student who plans a pre-med line of studies at Brevard. He said BC has been the perfect spot for him with its emphasis on academics, while Farmer runs his top notch baseball program like a college coach.

"I think Brevard is a beautiful spot to go to college and I can't wait to get started there," Tuten said. "But I'm looking forward to playing one more year with my brothers here at Benedictine -- we want to go for it all this season."

Sierzant reaches another milestone

Veronica Sierzant of Islands set a goal a few years back to achieve her own Triple Crown -- as she wanted to reach 1,000 career kills in volleyball, with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for her high school basketball career with the Sharks.

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The senior, who is headed to Syracuse on a volleyball scholarship, reached the final leg of her goal by grabbing her 1,000th rebound in a loss to Savannah Country Day on Dec. 29.

Sierzant is averaging 17 points and 12.3 rebounds per game for the Sharks (7-8), who are set to host SE Bulloch on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Prep Highlights: St. Andrew's wins 25th straight; BC pitcher Tuten signs