The Grind: Presented by Bank of Clarendon: Lee Central's Bradley trying to enjoy last ride with Stallions after year without sports

This spring marks the two-year anniversary of COVID-19 touching down in the United States. For Lee Central's Derrick Bradley, it's also the first time he's had the opportunity to suit up on the diamond.

In 2020, Lee Central hadn't yet played a regular season game when their season was shut down. Derrick remembers being on the bus when they got the news.

"We were on the bus, and they called and said COVID arrived, so we had to take the stuff back to the school," Derrick recalls. "That day, they shut down the school, and we didn't play sports since. It was depressing seeing everyone else play sports and we couldn't play."

For many student-athletes, the following year in sports was a confusing mess. At Lee Central, that confusion was worse than most. Like many high schoolers in South Carolina, Derrick hoped to get back to school in the fall of 2020 so he could start preparing for his junior basketball season.

That never happened.

Lee Central elected to remain in virtual schooling for the entirety of the 2020-21 school year. That meant no sports for the Stallions.

For a while, Derrick and his classmates clung to the hopes of a basketball season. Head coach Xavier Harry told the Stallions to stay ready. Once basketball season came and went without LCHS on the court, Derrick lost hope for his junior baseball season.

"Coach Harry would check up with us, see how we're doing. I was going off everything he said, and he said we might go back to school," Derrick recalled. "(After missing winter) it was pretty much over."

With no organized sports, Derrick and his friends had to get creative. After taking their classes online, the Stallions often got together to play sports any way they could.

"With virtual school you would get out of school early, so me and my friends would link up and play 7-on-7 or go to the YMCA in Hartsville," Derrick said. "You never know when you're going to get that call that you can come back to school, so we had to stay in shape."

Derrick's only opportunity to play organized sports came during the summer, when he started playing AAU basketball for Big Shots PD. He said he wanted to play so he could stay locked in for whenever sports would return to LCHS.

"It was a mindset thing," Derrick said. "I had to keep pushing like we were going to have a season."

AAU was fun, but Derrick wanted to suit up with his friends for Lee Central. When school started up again in the fall of 2021, he didn't want to have to wait until basketball season. Derrick decided to go back to a sport that he hadn't played since middle school.

"We came back to school, and I was ready to play sports. I was up for anything, so I came out to play football," Derrick said. "My friends were telling me to come out to play football, and Coach (Justin) Danner came out one day and asked me. I went to tryouts, made the team, and he put me in the position to be great."

Derrick ended up earning a spot as a starting cornerback for the Stallions. He finished the year with 36 tackles, two of which came for a loss, and led the team with seven pass breakups. He intercepted a pass, returning it for a touchdown, and recovered two fumbles.

After football ended, Derrick finally got to play his favorite sport again.

He was one of two returning varsity lettermen for the Stallions' basketball team, so it was his responsibility to step up as a leader. While Derrick felt some added pressure to take charge for an inexperienced team, he tried his best to just have fun.

"I had a talk with coach Harry. He told me to have fun, lead the team, encourage the team when their head is down, pick them up," Derrick said. "Just be the leader."

Basketball season was frustrating for the Stallions. Throughout region play, Lee Central seemed to be on the brink of turning a corner but kept falling just short.

LCHS went 2-6 in region play. Of those losses, all but one was decided by three or fewer points. Most of the defeats came when the opposing team made a game-winning basket.

"Basketball season was shaky," Derrick said. "In the beginning, it was shaky. In the middle, we were getting there, and at the end, it didn't go our way, but we had fun. I told my team to go out there and fight and have fun."

On a very balanced scoring team, Bradley averaged 7.8 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Lee Central finished 7-16, losing in the first round of the SCHSL 2A playoffs to York Prep, the eventual state runner-up.

After a long wait, Derrick returned to the baseball field this spring.

The Stallions played their first exhibition game of the season on Tuesday. Their season begins in earnest next week as Lee Central makes the trip to Mullins to open region play on Tuesday.

"I feel like everyone is more anxious to play and excited to be back," Derrick said. "We're talking about taking it one game at a time and having fun. Coach Harry always told me, 'You've got to play each game like it's your last. You never know when it could end again.'"

Lee Central is trying to keep things loose this spring. They want to win, of course, but also have a young team with just four returning players. Derrick is joined by fellow seniors Kwantre Harry and Kenneth Albert, who both also played football for the Stallions.

Tyrell Blythers also returns as a junior who was in the eighth grade the last time LCHS took the field.

"With your teammates, it's fun. You build bonds with each other. Coach (Joe Carney) has fun, joking around, but at the end of the day, he knows it's business. You have to have fun at the end of the day," Derrick said. "This season I hope we win region, make it deep in the conference, but most importantly, I want us to have fun and enjoy the moment."

Derrick hopes this isn't his last season as a student-athlete but also knows he has a tough hill to climb. Missing your junior season is tough regardless of the circumstances, as that season is when most players start to get the attention of college coaches.

That issue is only compounded in baseball, where Derrick missed two seasons.At the end of the day, Derrick doesn't care what sport he plays. He just wants to have a chance to play in college.

"I'll play basketball or baseball," Derrick said. "Whatever coach gives me the opportunity, I'm going to take advantage of it."