It was an early reason to be thankful for the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets.
Fort Mill High freshman Jermier Nelson hit a put back at the buzzer to give the Jackets a 49-48 win over the Charlotte Latin Hawks to win the Yellow Jackets Classic. Senior Nas Berry took the ball from baseline to baseline with about seven seconds left in the game and took a shot that was short, before Nelson hit the put back.
“We practice a ton of those situations,” said Fort Mill boys basketball head coach Myron Lowery. “With the lineup we had in there we wanted Nas bringing the ball up. Jermier was in the right spot. He is special. He has a high basketball IQ. His mental game is strong. We are real excited about him. We needed that win.”
Fort Mill scored first with an old fashion 3-point play by Berry, who picked up where he left off on Monday night, to open the game Tuesday. The Hawks drained a 3-pointer on the other end to tie it, but Fort Mill went on a small 5-1 run and created some separation. However, the Jackets also struggled converting shots during that run as well.
Charlotte Latin would rally to tie the game as the first quarter ended tied at 10.
Fort Mill was able to gain some separation from the Hawks as Logan Parker was able to score a couple of points to help push the Jackets ahead in the early part of the second quarter. The Hawks were able to stay close, but never found the run they had in the first quarter.
Parker led the way scoring seven of Fort Mill’s 14 points in the quarter as the Jackets took a 24-18 lead at the half.
Neither team shot well to open the second half. Fort Mill hit just two of its first six shots and pushed their lead to 28-21.
Charlotte Latin went on a 5-0 run to pull within two. Parker was able to come up with a 3-point play to give Fort Mill some breathing room, despite the Hawks chipping away.
Fort Mill held a three-point lead to start the fourth quarter at 35-32. The Jackets started on a 7-2 run in the fourth quarter, but the Hawks had a lot left in the tank. Charlotte Latin pulled within two at 41-39 about midway through the fourth quarter.
With about 2:30 left, both teams traded technical fouls with the Jackets hitting both of their shots.
Parker was able to push the pace for Fort Mill getting to the basket as he scored a game high 18 points. Charlotte Latin refused to go quietly as they hit a 3-pointer with 26.8 seconds left in the game and took the lead with about seven seconds left.
Berry ended the game for Fort Mill with 12 points and Nelson added 11 points as well for the Jackets. Both Berry and Nelson were named to the All-Tournament team and Parker was named tournament MVP.
Fort Mill will head into the Thanksgiving break at 2-0 and will host Providence High School on Dec. 3 to open the regular season.
Nov. 26 Roundup
The Catawba Ridge girls’ basketball team beat Blacksburg 46-43 to finish third in the Bob Dillon Invitational tournament at Spartanburg High School to improve to 2-1 on the season. Addison Cunningham was named to the All-Tournament team for the Lady Copperheads.
The Catawba Ridge boys’ basketball team fell to Boiling Springs 67-58 in the finals of the Union County tournament at Union County High School. Mark Caslaru was named to the All-Tournament team for the Copperheads and Elijah Peters led Catawba Ridge in the game with 20 points.
The Nation Ford girls’ basketball team fell 62-48 to the Byrnes Lady Rebels in the finals of the Bob Dillon Invitational tournament at Spartanburg High School to drop to 2-1 on the season.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
