DiBattisto to stay as BE boys coach

Never mind. Less than a month ago, Bishop England boys' basketball coach Jeff DiBattisto announced he was stepping down as boys' basketball coach and relinquishing his teaching duties because of a family situation that was too good to pass up. But this week, he asked Bishops' athletic director Paul Runey if he could have his old job back, and Runey's answer was a resounding yes.

DiBattisto is a newlywed and his wife, Caroline, is a developmental pediatrician who landed a job at the Medical University of Georgia in Augusta. He had planned to relocate at the end of the academic year.

But now, he will commute.

Runey said DiBattisto will spend the week in Charleston and return to Augusta for the weekends except during basketball season.

"He told me he couldn't help out on Fridays during football and that I would have to find a new golf coach next year," Runey said.

DiBattisto's five-year record is 82-47, including a 36-16 record in region play. His teams went 4-4 in the playoffs.

DiBattisto also coaches golf at Bishop England, and the Bishops won one state title with him at the helm of the program.

Region 7-AA stars

The basketball coaches in Region 7-AA have announced their all-region teams.

Devin Day of Kingstree and Michelle Beau ford of Timberland were the players of the year.

Timberland's Jerome Stewart was boys coach of the year and the Wolves' Cleve Touchberry was girls coach of the year.

Boys champ Timberland landed four players on the team: Brydon Giles, Dominique Richardson, Jasper Kinlaw and Darryl Palmer.

Andrews' picks were Cory Rush and Stefan Collins.

Phillip Dukes and Tony Ragin were Manning's selections while JaRon Denmark and Michael Forester were Hanahan's picks.

Bey and Alex Jessmore of Waccamaw rounded out the team.

Girls' champ Timberland landed four players on the team: Rateska Brown, Beauford, Lisa Prioleau and Angel Reid.

Jalisa Brown, LaToya Jones and Chrystal Moore were Kingstree's selections.

Manning had three players earn all-region honors: Courtney Greene, Tasheera Cooper and Sabrina Pendergrass.

Taniesha Bethel and Gisselle Broughton of Hanahan and Julia Bradshaw of Waccamaw round out the team.

Jenerette honored

Kayla Jenerette of Travelers Rest High School has been named the Gatorade South Carolina Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

The 5-5 senior guard led the Devildogs (23-6) to the Class AAA state tournament quarterfinals this past season, averaging 22.4 points, 3.8 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game. The Class AAA player of the year concluded her career with 1,584 points.

Jenerette has maintained a 4.72 weighted GPA, ranks No. 5 in her graduating class and has served on her school's student council. She is a member of her school's National Beta Club chapter, the National Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

She will attend Cedarville College in Ohio.

Reach Philip M. Bowman at pbowman@postandcourier.com or at 937-5592.