Catawba Ridge’s Zyan Hager goes in for a lay-up during the Copperheads game against Buford Tuesday evening.

Both the Catawba Ridge boys’ and girls’ basketball teams rolled in day one of the Copperhead Basketball Classic at Catawba Ridge High.

The girl’s team won 61-25 over Buford and the boy’s team turned around and won 68-30, also over Buford.

In the boy’s game, the Copperheads had three players in double figures as Zyan Hager led with 15 points for Catawba Ridge as they improved to 13-1 with the win. Grant Lovette dropped in 12 points and Tyler France added 10 points in the win.

Buford played the Copperheads tightly in the first quarter as Catawba Ridge led 16-10 after the opening period. Both teams started off the second quarter slowly, but the Copperheads were able to find another gear about midway through the second quarter and went on a 17-0 run to finish the quarter and go up 37-14 at the half.

“We challenged them before the game,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers. “I knew tonight would be a challenge to come out with the same fire we had in previous games.”

After the run in the second quarter, Catawba Ridge opened the second half on an 8-0 run capping a 25-0 run to make it 45-14. The Copperheads cruised from that point and will now play Rock Hill on day two in the semi-finals of the tournament at 6:30 p.m.

Also winning on the boy’s side of the bracket was Parkwood and Country Day.

In the girl’s game, Catawba Ridge had three players in double figures and was led by Skyla Tuthill, who had 18 points. Makailah Davis added 12 points and Morgan Davis dropped in 10 points as well. The Copperheads are now 10-1 on the season.

Having not played in more than a week, the Copperhead girls’ team came out a little slow.

“We were a little rusty,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Sheridan Pressley. “For us it is about execution.”

Catawba Ridge uncharacteristically had 12 turnovers in the first half, but only three the rest of the game. Buford struggled to shoot and trailed 13-6 after the first quarter. Things didn’t get much better for them in the second quarter as Catawba Ridge outscored them 15-5.

The second half was better for the Copperheads as they started to look more like themselves as they outscored Buford 33-14. Catawba Ridge started the fourth quarter on a 10-3 run and went up 47-17 with about six minutes left in the game.  

The Copperheads will now play North Gaston at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the semi-finals. Other day one winners on the girl’s side of the bracket were North Gaston by forfeit as Central girls’ team had to pull out due to a COVID issue. Cuthbertson and Parkwood also won on day one.

Fort Mill splits games

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets basketball teams split games in two different tournaments. The Fort Mill girls’ team lost 45-30 to Unicoi County out of Tennessee in the Lady Trojans Holiday Classic at Northwestern, while the boys’ team beat Marvin Ridge 45-35 in the Bennie Bennett Invitational at Clover High.

Fort Mill girls, who are now 4-9 on the season, will play Bluffton at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Northwestern and the Yellow Jackets’ boys, who are now 9-4 on the season, will play Battery Creek at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Clover.

Falcons drop game in Greenville

The Nation Ford Falcons boys’ basketball team fell to Hillcrest 40-30 in the opening round of the Poinsettia Classic at Greenville High. Nation Ford was led by Quadier Hand with 12 points. The Falcons are now 3-8 on the season. They will play Lugoff-Elgin at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep

Skyla Tuthill goes to the basket against Buford during their game as part of the Copperhead Classic Tuesday.