Every game that Marlboro County High has played since the basketball season restarted in late January had come down to the wire.  Wednesday night was no exception as the Bulldogs roared from behind to take a 60-59 victory over Bishop England High School in the quarterfinals of the Class AAA state tournament.
The Bulldogs trailed 58-50 after a dunk by a Bishop England player with 2:59 left in the game.  Until that point, the Bishops had held the Bulldogs’ standouts Dre Scott and Devonta Oliver in check.  However, the senior pair was not to be denied, scoring the team’s final 10 points to lead the comeback.
Oliver got the rally started with a three-pointer, then cut the lead to three on a drive to the basket.
The Bishops hit one of two free throws to make the score 59-55 with 1:14 left.  Scott took over from there.
The Region 6-AAA player of the year pulled the Bulldogs to within a point with a 3-point bomb 12 seconds later.  Marlboro forced a turnover and after a long shot missed, Scott got the ball under the basket and scored to give the Bulldogs their first lead since late in the first half

Those looking for a quick but tasty breakfast or lunch in Bennettsville will soon have a new option.
Using a small building that they already owned, Bill and Rachel McDonald plan to open The Nomad Cafe and Coffee Company, which will be located at 108 South Marlboro Street, as soon as the end of March.
The path to the opening of this new enterprise is a bit curvy, mostly influenced by the pandemic.
The McDonalds have owned a home in Bennettsville for several years but only made it their primary residence about a year ago.  They were living most of the year in Italy as Bill finished an assignment as an engineer.
However, after facing the early days of the pandemic in almost complete quarantine, the McDonalds escaped Italy to their new hometown at the first opportunity.  That set in motion their goal of opening a restaurant.

Getting COVID-19 vaccinations available to the rural areas of South Carolina has been a struggle, especially for the eight counties that lack a hospital.  That, of course, includes Marlboro County.
This issue was profiled in an article in the Sunday edition of The State.  This story focused on the trouble that Barnwell County has had in being able to offer the vaccine to citizens locally.
Thanks to a team effort from a number of local leaders, Marlboro County has been more successful than most of the other "hospital-less" communities.
In early January, County Administrator Ron Munnerlyn organized a Zoom meeting group of local leaders with the mission to raise awareness and put pressure on state officials to include Marlboro in the distribution plan.

Organizers were pleased after the first of three drive-through COVID 19 vaccination clinics was held on Wednesday.
Medical University of South Carolina was the provider for Wednesday's clinic.
"Today was an indicator of how successful we were in planning," said Steve Akers, emergency management director. "The biggest issue was getting the word out to folks, getting folks to sign up and trust the vaccine." 
Officials were pleased with how well things went.
The drive-through was set up with two large tents, which allowed for three cars in each tent. Cars were serviced from both sides. Once done, those vaccinated were routed to an observation area where they sat for 15 minutes. EMS was on site in case of any side effects or negative reactions to the dose.

Although not an item on the meeting agenda, discussion of the flooding along Crooked Creek dominated the Bennettsville City Council meeting Tuesday.
Due to recent heavy rains water had begun flowing over the bridge on Marlboro Street as of Tuesday afternoon, causing that road to be temporarily closed.  When Crooked Creek overflows its banks, homes in the Shady Rest area and the Richardson Park community are subject to flood damage.
Council member Gregory Scott said that several families in Richardson Park are expecting to be forced to evacuate at some point this week.
Mayor Carolyn Prince reported that the fire department and police are constantly monitoring the situation.  Fire Chief Chris Burks said that no one has been forced out at this time but one elderly person has relocated voluntarily.