The Nation Ford Falcons boys’ basketball team upsets the No. 6 Blythewood Bengals with a 66-57 victory Tuesday for an important Region 3-5A win.
Nation Ford jumped out to a 9-5 lead using their quickness to score in transition early in the first quarter.
Blythewood was able to hang with the Falcons on the quick start and cut the Nation Ford lead to three at 14-11 after the opening period.
The Bengals continued to claw at Nation Ford’s lead before the Falcons went on a 5-0 run to give them some breathing room.
Blythewood had trouble with the higher percentage shots as they tried shooting among the Falcons taller talent. Nation Ford was also granted multiple shot opportunities per possession as they were able to grab offensive rebounds.
Nation Ford took a 31-22 lead to the locker room.
With momentum clearly on the Falcons’ side, Nation Ford started the second half on an 8-0 run before a timeout.
Blythewood came out of the timeout and went on a 6-0 run of their own to cut the Falcons’ lead to 10.
Nation Ford took an 11-point lead to the fourth quarter. Blythewood again made a run to cut into the
Falcons lead, but every time they got close, Nation Ford would get a couple of baskets to again extend their lead.
The Falcons’ Jackson Burnham was able to take the game into his hands as he came up big for Nation Ford in the second half. The Falcons had multiple players contributing in the game as nine players scored in the game. In the fourth, Nation Ford had seven players score mostly in transition as Blythewood couldn’t keep up.
“We came out focused,” said Nation Ford head boys coach Charles Brown. “They weren’t expecting us to do what we did. They were able to press break and it enabled us to run.”
Burnham scored 20 points in the game, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Drew Robertson added 11 points as Nation Ford improves to 11-11 and 4-3 in the region.
Lady Falcons still looking for region win
A strong showing in the second quarter was enough to push the Blythewood Bengals over the Nation Ford Lady Falcons 58-40 Tuesday night.
Nation Ford opened the game with a 3-pointer by Makayla Washington, but Blythewood hit back-to-back 3-pointers as well.
Blythewood took the lead early and didn’t relinquish it as ball handling issues plagued the Falcons early. The Bengals showed their strength on the boards early in the contest.
Nation Ford’s Ariah Heard kept the Falcons in the game scoring all nine points for them in the second quarter. However, Blythewood was too strong offensively to allow the Falcons to keep it close and pulled away with the help of their perimeter shooting to go up 40-17 at the half.
The second half started slow for both squads as Nation Ford was unable to gain any ground.
The Falcons struggled to hit shots as Heard was the only consistent offense in the third quarter for Nation Ford.
Blythewood opened the fourth quarter up by 24 points and would go on to win by 18 as they cruised to the win.
Heard led the Falcons with 17 points as Nation Ford dropped to 10-12 on the season and 0-7 in the region.
Up next, the Falcons host Rock Hill Friday, Feb. 2.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
