By Mac Banks and John Turner
CONCORD – The Nation Ford Falcons punched their ticket to the finals of the Wolverine Holiday Classic at West Cabarrus High with a convincing 71-53 win over Hickory Grove.
Nation Ford held a small one-point lead at 46-45 after three quarters and then outscored Hickory Grove 25-8 in the fourth quarter to run away with the win. Nation Ford finished the third quarter on a 9-0 run after trailing 45-37.
The Falcons will play host West Cabarrus Wolverines in the finals Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Nation Ford was led by JJ Rembert, who came on late in the game scoring 23 points, 16 of those coming in the second half. Both Caden Giles and Turner Blackwood each added 14 points for the Falcons in the win.
The game was tied at 28-28 at the half as Nation Ford struggled in the second quarter hitting just two of 15 shots from the field.
Nation Ford grabbed a 19-12 lead after the opening quarter with the help of Giles, who scored five first quarter points. The Falcons were outscored 16-9 in the second quarter with the majority of their points coming from the foul line.
Nation Ford shot better in the third quarter, but still struggled as Hickory Grove started the second half on a 9-2 run. Despite the run by Hickory Grove, the Falcons stayed with them with the aid of Giles inside game and Rembert getting to the basket.
The 9-0 run gave Nation Ford the lead as they went on another run in the fourth quarter, this time going on a 7-0 run to go up 61-50. Blackwood scored nine of his 14 points in the quarter.
The win puts Nation Ford at 5-8 overall on the season.
West Cabarrus 54, Fort Mill 47
The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets were trying to book their second trip to a holiday tournament final in two weeks as they battled the West Cabarrus Wolverines in the 2022 Wolverine Basketball Classic. However, it wasn’t meant to be as a double-digit lead at halftime fizzled away in the second half in a 54-47 victory for host West Cabarrus.
Jackets came out smoking and earned an early five-point lead. The Wolverines would cut it to two as Fort Mill led after one period 14-12. The second period was all Fort Mill thanks to smooth shooting from Braylen McCain as the Jackets led at halftime 30-20.
The second half, unfortunately, was all Wolverines thanks to the red-hot shooting of Trey Minard. As his name would suggest, he was money from behind the arc draining five 3-pointers and carrying his team to within one at the end of three quarters 40-39.
The fourth quarter was very physical and intense as both teams traded jabs. In the last two minutes of the game, it was poor shooting from Fort Mill and great free throw shooting from West Cabarrus that made the difference.
Minard finished with 27 points to lead all scorers. The Jackets were led by Gabe Tooper who had 17 points. McCain added 12 points.
Fort Mill will now play in the third-place game against Hickory Grove. The Jackets are now 6-6 overall on the season.
