FLORENCE – Despite opening the 2023 Turkey Shootout at West Florence High School with an easy win, game two for the Catawba Ridge Copperheads was a bit more challenging.
Catawba Ridge beat the Darlington High School Falcons 65-49 to advance to today’s finals of the tournament where they will face Marlboro County. Marlboro County ousted host West Florence to advance to the finals on their side of the tournament bracket. The win puts Catawba Ridge at 2-0 on the season as they will play today at 5:30 p.m. at West Florence High School.
Against Darlington, Catawba Ridge had four players in double figures led by Zyan Hager who led with 21 points. Hager came up big in the fourth quarter scoring nine of the Copperheads’ 17 points as they opened the final period with a slim 48-42 lead.
Catawba Ridge started the fourth quarter on a 7-3 run to give themselves some breathing room despite Darlington sticking around and giving the Copperheads issues.
“That game got us in the right mindset for the finals,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers. “We handled it really well. I thought we battled hard.”
Darlington used their size and reach to give the Copperheads fits at times. Catawba Ridge started the game well opening with a 7-2 lead early, but Darlington outscored them down the stretch 12-9 to finish the first quarter as the Copperheads held just a two-point lead at 16-14.
Catawba Ridge opened the second quarter with an 8-2 run to go up 24-16 and used a quick defense to cause Darlington turnovers, which led to Copperhead points in transition.
Catawba Ridge led 33-25 at the half, but Darlington started the third quarter with a small 5-0 run to pull within three. From there, the Copperheads were more methodical with the ball as Hager, who had eight first half points started to score more. Both Lance Barnes and Quh Webb each scored four points in the quarter to help keep Catawba Ridge ahead on the scoreboard.
Barnes scored 17 points in the game, 11 of which came in the first half. Webb scored 10 points, all coming in the second half, six of which came in the fourth quarter. Landon Foley also helped to lead the way for Catawba Ridge in the first half scoring all 12 of his points, but got into foul trouble and was limited in the second half.
In the second half, Catawba Ridge shot 50 percent from the field and hit nine of their 11 foul shots to hold off Darlington.
In the opening game of the tournament on Monday, Nov. 20, Catawba Ridge beat the Camden Bulldogs 66-27 and was led by Barnes with 21 points and Hager with 14 points.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
