Despite not starting at their normal time, the Catawba Ridge Copperheads weren’t phased as they took care of business in the second round of the 4A playoffs.
Catawba Ridge pulled away in the second half for a 78-49 win over the Greenwood Eagles Saturday. The Copperheads travel to Riverside on Thursday, Feb. 22 for the third round.
The 5 p.m. start on Saturday’s saw the Copperheads go up 8-0 to open the game. Catawba Ridge pushed the game to 13-1 before a Greenwood timeout.
Greenwood came out of the timeout and went on a 6-0 run to close the gap. Early foul issues for the Copperheads disrupted their offensive flow. Catawba Ridge was still able to maintain control and went into the second quarter with a 25-15 lead thanks to 13 first quarter points from Zyan Hager.
The Eagles kept the game competitive going inside for most of their points using their height to their advantage. Greenwood cut it to less than 10 with about four minutes left in the first half as Catawba Ridge led 34-27.
Greenwood also started getting into foul trouble leading to turnovers on their end as the Copperheads tried to take advantage.
Catawba Ridge slowed their offense down in the second quarter looking for more open shots. The Copperheads struggled at the foul line in the second quarter hitting just 2-of-7 shots, which also allowed Greenwood to keep it close as Catawba Ridge led 41-31 at the half.
The Copperheads opened the second half with a small 6-0 run but gave themselves some room to again control the game. Lance Barnes was able to get to the basket for Catawba Ridge much like Hager did in the first half.
The Eagles continued using their size as Catawba Ridge struggled getting rebounds on the defensive end against Greenwood’s height.
Turnovers for Greenwood allowed the Copperheads to widen their lead in the third quarter taking a 59-43 lead to the final period.
Catawba Ridge opened the fourth quarter with another run scoring the first eight points to put the game out of reach. The Copperheads were able to start getting more baskets in transition to go up by 30 at 76-46 with two minutes left in the game.
Hager led with 32 points, while Barnes added 19 points in the win. Catawba Ridge is now 24-3 on the season.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
