The Fort Mill boy’s basketball team advanced to the third round of the 5A playoffs by beating the Hillcrest Rams with the help of a strong second half.
Fort Mill outscored Hillcrest 36-17 in the second half to get a 59-40 win and will host Dorman at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22 in the third round. The Jackets improve to 17-10 overall with their 10th straight win.
It is the second consecutive year Fort Mill has gotten to the third round of the 5A playoffs.
“Our team has come a long way,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe. “We are down to the final eight and it’s exciting.”
This year’s seniors, who were juniors last year, had some extra motivation to get back to this spot.
“There is a lot of motivation,” Hartsoe said. “They were determined to get back there.”
The first half against Hillcrest was a back-and-forth tussle for the Jackets. It was a slow start for both teams as Fort Mill went up 6-0 early on and was led by AJ Washington throughout the game as he scored four early points in the game and put the Jackets up 11-6 after the opening period.
Gabe Tooper, who had 15 points, scored five points in the second quarter as Hillcrest was strong on the boards, but Fort Mill was able to get to the foul line often hitting 4-of-8 shots in the quarter. Hillcrest used their height in the middle to stay with Fort Mill as the two teams went into the locker room tied at 23 at the half.
The third quarter was the difference in the game for Fort Mill as they came out hitting 3-pointers from Washington, who scored nine of his 17 points in the quarter. The Jackets went on a 6-0 run to go up 34-28 about midway through the quarter and held a 43-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Fort Mill hit 8-of-12 shots from the field in the third quarter and outscored the Rams 20-9.
In the fourth quarter, Hillcrest went to a press to try and climb back in the game. Fort Mill went on an 8-0 run in the quarter as Tooper and Braylen McCain came up with key foul shots in the quarter. McCain scored all 11 of his points in the game in the second half, including seven in the fourth quarter.
Fort Mill didn’t shoot much in the fourth quarter, but was accurate hitting 5-of-7 shots, and did the exact same from the foul line. Will Stumpf quietly added 12 points in the game as well for Fort Mill.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
