The Catawba Ridge Lady Copperheads tip off the 2024-25 basketball season this weekend.
Catawba Ridge opens against Clinton High School in a tournament in Spartanburg on Saturday, Nov. 23. The Lady Copperheads are coming off a season where they went 6-4 in their 4A region, but struggled in non-region games finishing the season at 8-18 with a first-round playoff loss to Wade Hampton.
While the team lost leading scorer Morgan Davis to graduation, they do have back Addison Cunningham, Lillie Peleponuk and Brooks Dority.
Despite some experience, the Lady Copperheads are still young.
“We are a young group,” said Catawba Ridge girls head coach Sheridan Pressley. “We have a lot of kids in our program that we are excited for. We are going to play real hard and get up and down and have a great pace. We are super excited for this season moving up to 5A. We are going to see what we can do and compete to the best of our ability.”
Pressley didn’t lay out specific expectations for her team this year, but says despite being in a new region and new to 5A, things don’t change for her program.
“No matter where we are at or what region we are in, our expectations don’t change,” Pressley said. “We are here to compete and play hard, regardless where we are at.”
The 5A schedule for Catawba Ridge beings in new challenges and new opponents. The non-region schedule for the Lady Copperheads includes Palisades, South Point (from North Carolina), York Prep, Spartanburg and Chapin, before their first Region 3-5A game at Fort Mill on Dec. 20. The regular season for Catawba Ridge kicks off against South Point on Dec. 6 at home.
“It is going to be fun to play new teams,” Peleponuk said.
Catawba Ridge will be heading to South Point for a winter break tournament on Dec. 27 and 28. They won’t resume their region schedule until Jan. 10 at Indian Land.
Catawba Ridge boy’s in rebuilding mode
The Catawba Ridge boy’s team is coming off a 25-4 season and a third-round playoff appearance.
The Copperheads are defending Region 3-4A champions, but they aren’t in that region anymore and are without key players from last year in Zyan Hager and Landon Foley, who graduated, and Lance Barnes, who transferred out of the district.
“We are going to learn a lot,” said Catawba Ridge boys head coach Brett Childers. “We are going to learn a lot on the fly. We have a lot of new faces. We are excited. We are very young this year. They are working hard. We have some good talent, they are just young. Give us some time early in the season and I think we will be fine as the season goes on.”
A couple players that Childers is hoping leads the Copperheads is Isaiah Thomas, who came on strong to end last season, and transfer Mark Caslaru from Nation Ford. Elijah Peters, who has been in the program for a while, is one of the team captains this season.
“Our expectation is to grow and learn this season and have a great season on the back half of the season,” Peters said. “We have the talent. We have to play our hardest every day.”
Thomas said he feels like the competition at the 5A level will be better, so the team must be ready.
“The play is better so we have to get better every day at practice,” he said.
Catawba Ridge opens the season next week on Monday, Nov. 25 at a two-day tournament in Union County. They will have a similar schedule as the girls’ team, but will play a showcase tournament at Chambers High School on Dec. 27, 28 and 30.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
