The Catawba Ridge Copperheads boys’ basketball team got off to a fast start to outlast the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets for a 62-51 win Friday night.
The game was a home game for Fort Mill, but was played at Nation Ford High School, due to a scheduling conflict at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center.
The win was the seventh consecutive win for the Copperheads over Fort Mill in boys’ basketball.
“We played really well in spurts,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers. “We got out of rhythm a couple times. It’s a tough place to play.”
Both Fort Mill and Catawba Ridge came into the game undefeated on the season.
Fort Mill opened the game with three consecutive turnovers as the Copperheads jumped out to a 7-0 start in the first 2:30 of the game, all coming from Zyan Hager, before a Jackets timeout.
Catawba Ridge stayed ahead as both teams started to equally turn the ball over.
The Copperheads were able to take advantage of second chance opportunities during the quarter and ended the period leading 14-4, as Hager scored 10 of those 14 points.
The second quarter started evenly for the two teams as they traded baskets. AJ Washington for Fort Mill got hot to start the quarter scoring all 10 points for the Jackets in the period.
Lance Barnes led the Copperheads in the second quarter pushing the pace to keep Catawba Ridge ahead.
Fort Mill had three consecutive turnovers later in the quarter as the Copperheads took advantage and extended their lead to 30-14 at the half. The Jackets had 14 first half turnovers.
“We didn’t execute what we wanted to do,” said Fort Mill head coach Myron Lowery. “You can’t spot good teams like that.”
Fort Mill struggled to score in the first half with just two players scoring, while the Copperheads had six players score.
Catawba Ridge scored the first two goals of the second half. From there both teams’ offense cooled as they failed to replicate the quick first half.
Quh Webb led the Copperheads offense in the third quarter. Fort Mill started to heat up about halfway through the third quarter going on a 7-0 run to pull within 12 at 38-26 before a Catawba Ridge timeout.
Fort Mill cut the lead to 40-31 with less than a minute in the third quarter. The Jackets outscored Catawba Ridge 19-11 in the third period to get back in the game and trailed by eight to open the fourth quarter.
Barnes opened the fourth quarter leading the Copperheads on a 5-2 run to again give the visiting team some breathing room.
Christian McCain tried to help rally the Jackets, but could only do so much with Hager and Barnes leading the offense on the other end.
Catawba Ridge held a small 50-42 lead with four minutes left in the game. The Copperheads were able to hone their offense and get to the basket easily converting higher percentage shots.
While Fort Mill stayed close, they were forced to foul the Copperheads down the stretch where they easily converted their foul shots.
Catawba Ridge hit 8-of-9 foul shots in the fourth quarter. The Copperheads were led by Barnes with 19 points. Hager added 17 points.
Fort Mill was led by Washington with 17 points.
Catawba Ridge improved to 5-0, while Fort Mill dropped to 2-1 on the season.
Lady Jackets get off to a strong start
The Fort Mill girls’ basketball team controlled the game from nearly the opening tip as they beat Catawba Ridge 37-26.
“This group really enjoys being around each other,” said Fort Mill head coach Nathan Wruble. “That goes a long way. The group plays for each other.”
The girls game started slow for both teams as turnovers were a big factor early on. Neither team seemed to take advantage of them as they combined for seven points through the first four minutes.
Fort Mill took an early 5-2 lead with the help of a 3-pointer from Izzie Barber. The Jackets got more chances to shoot the ball as turnovers stalled the Copperheads offense.
The Jackets took a 11-4 lead into the second quarter. Fort Mill was able to score in transition as Catawba Ridge struggled to get more than one shot per possession.
Neither team lit up the scoreboard as the Jackets started the second quarter on a 4-0 run.
As efficient as Fort Mill was, Catawba Ridge wasn’t. Both teams put up identical scores in the second quarter as they did in the first quarter as Fort Mill took a 22-8 lead into the half. Fort Mill did struggle at the foul line hitting just 1-of-10 first half attempts.
The Jackets stayed strong to start the third quarter, despite purposely slowing down their offense. Turnovers continued to be an issue for both teams in the third quarter. Fort Mill went up by 20 at 31-11 with about two minutes left in the third quarter.
Scoring continued to slow down in the fourth quarter for the Jackets as Catawba Ridge finally found some rhythm.
Foul shots allowed the Copperheads to climb back into the game as they hit 10-of-14 in the fourth quarter and 18-of-26 in the game.
Addison Cunningham and Morgan Davis each scored nine points to lead Catawba Ridge, which dropped to 1-3 on the season.
Fort Mill improved to 3-0 as they were led by Jada Chambliss who scored 12 points.
Catawba Ridge comes back to Nation Ford next Tuesday, Dec. 5 to play the Falcons, while Fort Mill heads to Lancaster the same day.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
