Turnovers and poor shooting were what led to the Fort Mill boys’ basketball team dropping their first Region 3-5A game of the year to the Clover Blue Eagles 59-49 Friday night.
Fort Mill fell to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in region play with the loss as the Jackets hit just 18 shots in the game and struggled at times with turnovers.
“For us to be successful, we have got to make shots,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe. “They (Clover) played really good defense.”
Both teams were neck-and-neck through the first quarter with Clover holding a slight 18-15 lead after the opening period. The second quarter was where things started to go downhill for Fort Mill as they hit just 1-of-11 shots from the field and turned the ball over a handful of times in the quarter.
Clover outscored Fort Mill 17-4 in the second quarter and took a 16-point lead into the half, from which the Jackets were never able to recover from. Clover attacked the basket often in the second quarter and was able to manage getting deep in the block and run the baseline to get easy baskets.
Fort Mill did show some positive signs in the third quarter opening the second half with a 11-2 run to make it 37-30. The Jackets hit three 3-pointers in the stretch, but struggled with getting rebounds and continued to leave the baseline open for Clover.
The Jackets outscored Clover 15-9 in the third quarter, however, the Blue Eagles carried a 44-34 lead into the final quarter.
Having a little cushion, Clover opened the quarter on a 7-0 run to go up 52-34. Fort Mill fought back again using the 3-pointer as Jackson Fewster led the Jackets with 14 points. Fort Mill’s consistent top scorer Kyle Neibch was held to just two points on 1-of-12 shooting from the field. Daniel Penosky added nine points in the loss, all on 3-pointers for the Jackets.
Again, Fort Mill struggled with their shot in the fourth quarter hitting just five shots overall, while Clover, after the hot start, was able to match the Jackets nearly shot for shot for the rest of the period.
Fort Mill is scheduled to return to the court Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. hosting Catawba Ridge.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
