By Jack Veltri
Correspondent
INDIAN LAND – The Nation Ford basketball split a doubleheader with the Indian Land Warriors on Wednesday night.
The girls’ team was able to handle business while the boys’ team came up short. In a game that was over by halftime, the Nation Ford Lady Falcons rolled to a 70-40 win over the Warriors. The win moves them to 5-2 on the year.
Right from the jump, Nation Ford was hitting its shots consistently. By the end of the first quarter, the Falcons had already knocked down eight 3-pointers. They went on a 19-1 run to take a commanding 24-point lead.
While Indian Land eventually ended the scoring drought in the second quarter, it wouldn’t be long before the Falcons went on another big run. By the end of the first half, they were 12-for-17 from behind the arc, which accounted for 36 of their 48 points.
Nation Ford’s Ariah Heard led the way with 14 first-half points and knocked down four 3-pointers.
“When the younger ones get together, we’re going to be okay,” said Nation Ford head coach Kelly Bennett. “It’s just a matter of our young ones clicking and getting together. And once they figure out how to play and our older ones anchor them down, we’re going to be great.”
With such a 30-point lead by the break, the Falcons eased up a little bit and couldn’t find the same consistency it had in the early going. After halftime, they didn’t hit another 3-pointer.
But it wasn’t the end of the world as Nation Ford continued to do enough to maintain its lead. And a lot of that had to do with Jayln Bennett, who was continuing to grab rebound after rebound in the paint.
“I adore that kid,” Bennett said. “That kid is amazing. She’s really bought in and really understood what her role is as a leader. We get the ball outside from her a lot but those young ones were hot so we had to keep feeding them. And she understood the mission. I challenged her before the game to get the young ones going. And that’s where we’re at.”
Nation Ford boys unable to complete comeback
In a game that went down to the wire, Nation Ford got the short end of the stick in a 69-67 loss. The Falcons are now 4-3 and have lost two straight games.
The first quarter was predominantly owned by Indian Land, who held a 19-8 lead. The Falcons fouled some of the Warriors better shooters at times, resulting in a few and-one opportunities.
But while Nation Ford was down, it found a way to make a comeback in the second quarter. The Falcons went on a huge 10-0 run to tie the game. But Indian Land would take the lead right back as Mike Jones, who finished with 29 points, hit a 3-pointer.
With one more chance to get some points before the break, Indian Land’s Sincere Rasul hit a three at the buzzer to make it a five-point game.
“That’s our MO this whole season for some reason,” said Falcons head coach Charles Brown. “They don’t want to get ahead and stay ahead. It’s like they want to fight from behind.”
In the third quarter, the Falcons wasted no time tying the game up again. And things would remain nip and tuck for the rest of the game as neither team could gain a big lead. By the end of the third quarter, the Warriors only had a three-point lead, thanks to some more big shots by Jones.
With the game tied at 67 and less than 30 seconds remaining, Indian Land had a chance to retake the lead and win the game. With the ball in Jones’ hands at the top of the key, he drove inside and hit a floater with 11 seconds left to jump out in front.
Nation Ford had one more chance to either tie or win the game. However, it couldn’t do so as its final shot fell short.
“They just hit a good shot at the end of the game,” Brown said. “I think we did a good job of switching into the zone defense to try and discombobulate them a little bit. We had our chances down the stretch, but we turned the ball over a few times. I didn’t think we did anything bad; Mike just made a good shot at the end of the game.”
Nation Ford will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 15 at Catawba Ridge.
