SPARTANBURG – The Catawba Ridge girls basketball season tipped off Saturday with the Lady Copperheads falling 68-30 to the Clinton Red Devils in the Bob Dillon Tournament at Spartanburg High School.
The Lady Copperheads opened with a 3-pointer from Addison Cunningham, but then four consecutive turnovers and a 7-0 run by Clinton led Catawba Ridge to their first timeout of the game.
Out of the timeout, the Lady Copperheads were able to get back in the game with the help of a couple of free throws from Brooke Berninzoni, but they still struggled in turning the ball over.
Clinton was better on the boards getting rebounds for second chance points.
Catawba Ridge was able to put together a 6-0 run to pull within four at 15-11 with less than a minute left in the opening quarter. The run was short lived as Clinton went on an 8-0 run to finish the quarter.
That run for the Red Devils continued to open the second quarter with Clinton hitting a 3-pointer to open the scoring.
The Lady Copperheads still struggled with turnovers, but were able to get points in transition to help cut into the Clinton lead.
Every time Catawba Ridge would seem to get momentum, they would start turning the ball over in traffic, leading to the Red Devils turning those breakaways into points. Clinton took a 43-20 lead at the half.
The Red Devils opened the second half on a 5-0 run to widen their lead.
Catawba Ridge played better causing more defensive problems for Clinton, but had a hard time on offense closing the gap.
About midway through the third quarter, the turnover issues started coming back around for Catawba Ridge. Clinton took a 30-point lead into the fourth quarter at 56-26. The Red Devils outscored Catawba Ridge 14-4 in the fourth quarter. The Lady Copperheads hit just 4-of-20 shots in the second half.
Berninzoni led with 12 points for Catawba Ridge and Cunningham added 11 points as well.
Nov. 23 Roundup
The Fort Mill girls’ basketball team opened their season with a 55-48 win over Keenan High School at the First Four at Ridge View High School.
The Nation Ford girls’ basketball team won their season opener at the Bob Dillon Tournament in Spartanburg with a 63-31 win over Blacksburg.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
