A double overtime thriller gave the Nation Ford boys basketball a Region 3-5A title by edging the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets.
Freshman guard AJ Cureton’s running layup with 5.1 seconds in double overtime gave the Falcons a 95-93 win.
Nation Ford opened the first overtime period on a 6-0 run. But like they did for most of the game, the Jackets continued to claw back and tied the game at 84 with six seconds remaining, where the Falcons missed a game winning shot to send it to another overtime.
After Cureton’s game winner, Fort Mill had one more shot attempt but came up short.
Nation Ford head coach Charles Brown said his team never waived in their belief that they were going to win the game.
“We kept reminding them this was about the seniors,” Brown said. “We exceeded expectations from everybody on the outside this season.”
Brown said the play of Cureton and freshman Makai McKnight has lifted the team this season.
“They have given the program a facelift,” he said.
The win made a jumble mess of the region with Indian Land, Nation Ford, and Fort Mill all finishing at 8-4. Fort Mill needed the win to win the region outright. Nation Ford has the season sweep over Indian Land, and Fort Mill split with Indian Land this season and Nation Ford as well.
“We had our chances,” said Fort Mill head coach Myron Lowery. “When you go into double overtime and score 93 points, you are always going to have your opportunities. Our foul trouble hurt us.”
Nation Ford opened on a 5-0 run, but it was short lived. Chase Walters came out firing for the Falcons, while Jermier Nelson was an early go-to guy for Fort Mill. The Jackets had more second chances early, but wasn’t able to convert them.
The Falcons edged ahead at the foul line, but struggled to stop Fort Mill from getting to the basket.
The Jackets closed the first quarter up 20-14, but Nation Ford started the second quarter on an 8-0 run leading to a timeout. The game stayed close as Fort Mill was able to stop the bleeding with the play of Wallace Campbell.
Fort Mill regained the lead as they were able to cause turnovers and clean things up on the glass. However, the Jackets struggled to pull away as the Falcons again played their way back into the game outscoring Fort Mill 21-15 in the quarter to tie the game at 35 at the half. The two teams were nearly identical in shooting in the first half as Nation Ford shot one more basket than the Jackets and with both teams hitting 14 shots from the field.
The Falcons’ Cureton, who closed the first half with two 3-pointers, opened the second half with a three-pointer to put Nation Ford up 38-35. Caleb Tooper pulled Fort Mill back into the game, getting to the basket off screens.
Nation Ford was able to stay about one step ahead for most of the time through the third quarter. Fort Mill tied the game at 46 off a Nelson jumper. An AJ Washington 3-pointer for Fort Mill started both teams trading the lead to end the third quarter. Tooper was key to the Jackets in the third quarter scoring seven points.
Nelson, who struggled in the second and third quarters, was able to find his shot in the fourth quarter. Cureton continued to pace the Falcons on their end of the floor in the fourth quarter. Neither team was able to make a run as each would pull ahead by a little, but the other would come right back to tie it shortly thereafter.
Noah Patrick put the Falcons up by five with about 90 seconds, but Nelson would again cut their lead down to just two on the next possession.
Washington came up big for Fort Mill hitting 2-of-3 free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime tied at 74.
Cureton led Nation Ford with 27 points and both McKnight and Walters added 18 points. The Falcons had five players in double figures. Drew Robertson scored 16 points, and Patrick added 14 points for Nation Ford.
Fort Mill was led by Nelson with 27 points and Washington added 25 points. Campbell scored 18 points an Tooper finished with 17 points.
Both teams finished 19-7 overall on the season.
Girls’ basketball
Four free throws by Nation Ford’s Aubrey Morrow gave the Lady Falcons a 49-47 overtime win over the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets.
The Lady Jackets entered the game looking for at least a tie for the Region 3-5A title, but needed the win. Fort Mill struggled at the foul line in overtime hitting just 2-of-7 opportunities, while Nation Ford hit 4-of-5 foul shots.
“The girls have played lights out,” said Nation Ford head coach Kelly Bennett. “We continue to talk about being better than people and quit gifting wins to people.”
Both teams started slow in opening the game as they tried to establish an offense.
An early 3-pointer by Morrow put the Falcons up 5-2. Fort Mill was able to rally mostly at the foul line shooting of Kate Marker.
Morrow led Nation Ford scoring their first eight points. The Jackets were able to find some offensive rhythm to hang with the Falcons and led 11-10 after the first quarter.
Nation Ford’s Makayla Washington opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer. Fort Mill’s Colbie Wolf tied the game at 13 about two minutes later. The game continued to go back and forth with the teams trading the lead.
Fort Mill struggled some with ball handling as another Morrow 3-pointer pushed Nation Ford to a four-point lead. The Jackets kept it close with the help of their offensive rebounding. The Jackets lived and died by the 3-pointer, as Wolf carried them into the half with another 3-pointer to put them up 21-20.
Both teams traded 3-pointers to open the second half. Fort Mill’s experience started to show in the third quarter as they went up by four early. The Jackets caused turnovers frustrating Nation Ford’s offense.
The Falcons struggled shooting and they also had trouble on defense stopping Fort Mill. As long as the Jackets kept Nation Ford from penetrating the paint, they were able to be successful on defense.
A series of turnovers allowed Nation Ford to tie the game at 32 right before the end of the third quarter. Turnovers again started to raise its ugly head for the Jackets.
Wolf opened the fourth quarter for Fort Mill scoring the first five points to allow the Jackets to regain the lead. Morrow led Nation Ford back in front.
Both teams tried to use the clock to their advantage and used timeouts wisely down the stretch in the final two minutes.
The game went into overtime tied at 43 after a Kate Marker basket.
Morrow led Nation Ford with 20 points, while Wolf led Fort Mill with 19 points.
The Jackets finished the regular season at 14-12 overall and 9-3 in region play, while Nation Ford finished at 13-12 overall an 8-4 in the region.
Playoffs for all four teams start next week.
Feb. 13 Roundup
The Catawba Ridge boys’ basketball team beat Clover 45-35 at home to finish the regular season at 16-9 overall and 6-6 in Region 3-5A. The Lady Copperheads fell to Clover 53-18 and finished the regular season at 11-12 overall and 4-8 in region play.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
