A 20-point fourth quarter was enough for the South Point Red Raiders to slip past the Catawba Ridge boys basketball team.
The Copperheads fell 60-57 coming up short on a game tying 3-pointer as time expired. The loss dropped the Copperheads to 1-3 on the season.
“It’s hard to put my finger on it,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers. “The biggest thing was turnovers and lack of foul shooting.”
The Copperheads were 9-of-23 from the foul line.
Catawba Ridge was able to start well scoring in transition off turnovers. Casey Fikis and Isaiah Thomas led the way for the Copperheads pushing them to a six-point advantage after the first quarter.
South Point was able to play their way back into the game starting the second quarter on a 7-2 run by creating turnovers and showing more patience.
Catawba Ridge was able to again gain some space by setting up high percentage shots by getting to the basket. The game got a lot more physical with about two minutes left in the half as South Point got hit with several technicals. That helped to give Catawba Ridge a 26-22 halftime lead.
The Copperheads started the second half going on a 6-2 run in the first couple of minutes. That didn’t deter South Point as they were able to work their way back into the game.
Miller Shelton and Elijah Peters kept Catawba Ridge ahead with the small advantage. The two combined for 15 of the Copperheads 19 points in the quarter.
Catawba Ridge took a 47-40 lead to open the fourth quarter after two Fikis free throws. The lead didn’t last as South Point used long range shots to tie the game at 49. The two teams would then start trading baskets as the game ticked under two minutes before South Point took the lead for good.
Catawba Ridge had three players in double figures as Peters led with 15 points. Thomas added 13 points and Shelton had 12 points.
Lady Copperheads fall at the foul line
The Catawba Ridge Lady Copperheads dropped to 3-2 on the season falling to South Point 54-31.
“We played really well in the first half,” said Lady Copperheads head coach Sheridan Pressley. “We executed our game plan but we missed a ton of free throws. We had opportunities, we just have to capitalize.”
CeCe Gardner led the way for the Copperheads in the first quarter scoring four of the team’s seven points.
South Point took a strong lead 19-7 about three minutes into the second quarter. Brooks Dority drained a 3-pointer and then scored an old fashioned three-point play to cut into the Red Raiders lead.
Catawba Ridge was able to pull within 10 at 26-16 with about 2:30 left. Neither team was able to gain much ground and score for the next minute leading to multiple turnovers.
Dority dropped nine second quarter points for Catawba Ridge as the Copperheads scored 12 points in the period and trailed 27-19 at the half.
The Copperheads started the second half well as Brooke Berninzoni scored consecutive baskets. While the start was good, it was hard for Catawba Ridge to stop South Point on defense.
Turnovers seemed to stymie any run that the Copperheads were able to put together. Both teams struggled with the issue of turnovers, but for Catawba Ridge they couldn’t capitalize on them as much as the Red Raiders did.
South Point entered the fourth quarter up by 17 points. The Red Raiders outscored the Copperheads 10-4 in the final period.
Dority led Catawba Ridge with 14 points.
Dec. 6 Roundup
The Fort Mill boys’ basketball team beat Gaffney 62-41 to improve to 4-0 on the season. Jermier Nelson led with 22 points for the Jackets.
The Fort Mill girls’ basketball team lost 56-39 to Gaffney and dropped to 3-2 on the season.
The Nation Ford boys’ basketball team fell to 1-2 on the season with a 65-56 loss to Ardrey Kell on the road.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
