The Catawba Ridge boys’ basketball team stole a win from the Indian Land Warriors literally as a steal and bucket by Grant Lovette give the Copperheads the victory Tuesday.
Lovette, who had with 18 points for Catawba Ridge stole the ball and went from about half court to lay the ball in with seven seconds left to give the Copperheads the 65-64 win over Indian Land. The Warriors had one final shot attempt for the win but missed as Catawba Ridge improved to 21-4 overall and 7-2 in Region 3-4A. The win allowed Catawba Ridge to keep a hold of a first-place tie with Lancaster.
Just like they did in the fourth quarter against Lancaster, the Copperheads struggled in the final period with turnovers, committing six of them unofficially.
“I don’t know if we were just tired,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers. “We had to play a lot more man (defense). We are still a work in progress. We kept fighting. Our guys never quit.”
Indian Land came out on fire to start the game and hit six 3-pointers in the opening quarter and took a 24-20 lead. The Warriors opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run and went up 34-20.
The Copperheads were able to hit 3-pointers of its own in the second quarter after the Indian Land run hitting three of them, two from Zyan Hager, who lead with 19 points in the game. Catawba Ridge rallied and finished the second quarter on a 10-0 run of their own tying the game at 38 entering halftime.
The third quarter was a back-and-forth between the two teams as Catawba Ridge jumped ahead by three at 54-51 towards the end of the third quarter, making one more basket than the Warriors in the period.
In the fourth quarter, Indian Land started getting to the foul line a lot more than Catawba Ridge and took advantage of their free throws hitting 9-of-10. Their defense also caused them to get Copperhead turnovers as they sprinted ahead of Catawba Ridge.
The Copperheads were able to stay close as Lovette led Catawba Ridge in the fourth with seven of his 18 points. Lance Barnes was big in the second half as well for Catawba Ridge scoring nine points in the game, nearly half of that in the second half.
Catawba Ridge needs to now turn around and pull for Indian Land to beat Lancaster Friday night to give the Copperheads the region title outright. If both Lancaster and Catawba Ridge end up tied with the same region record, they would be co-region champions, but Lancaster would get the top seed and Catawba Ridge would get the second seed based on point difference between the two teams.
Lady Copperheads rally by Indian Land
The Catawba Ridge girls had their hands full in the first half with Indian Land, but managed to shake things up in the second half and return to their normal style of play for a 56-41 win over the Lady Warriors.
Indian Land held a 15-13 lead after the opening quarter, however in the second quarter, Catawba Ridge outscored them 16-9 to take five point halftime lead at 29-24.
Then in the third quarter, Catawba Ridge really turned up the offense and defense outscoring Indian Land 17-2 in the period to lead by 20 at 46-26. The Copperheads opened the second half on a 10-0 run, while Indian Land struggled with turnovers for the majority of the second half.
From there, the Copperheads coasted to another win to improve to 7-1 in the region and 19-4 overall.
Brielle Windisch led Catawba Ridge with 18 points and Makailah Davis added 17 points in the win. Tatum Postel also dropped in 10 points for the Copperheads.
Catawba Ridge host Northwestern to end the regular season Friday night as both Copperheads teams can clinch a share of the region title with wins.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
