By John Turner
Correspondent
COLUMBIA – The Fort Mill basketball teams took the long ride into Columbia Friday night to battle the Spring Valley Vikings with one of the teams getting a crucial win.
The Lady Jackets were trying to hang onto their slim playoff hopes while the boys wanted to keep a hand on first place in Region 3-5A. The Fort Mill boys were able to do that with a 56-52 win over Spring Valley.
If you aren’t a fan of physical, hard-nosed basketball then the boy’s game was not for you. Both teams came out banging early and often racking up points and fouls. Gabe Tooper paced the Jackets in the first period with seven points as Fort Mill took the early lead only to see the Vikings roar back thanks to eight points from Justin Skelton as Spring Valley led 14-11 after one frame.
The second period was pretty entertaining although low scoring. The Jackets scored 12 points in the period with half of the points coming from the free throw line. The halftime score was pretty indicative of the first half as Fort Mill led 23-22.
The second half got dicey in a hurry. Braylen McCain and Zach Jennings each hit a three as Fort Mill tried to pull away just to see the Vikings retaliate behind a balanced scoring attack. As the period went on, fouls became plentiful which had an effect on the end of the game. Jordan Burgess and Caleb Temoney both nailed 3-pointers as Spring Valley would come back to take a slim lead only to see the Jackets finish the third period strong to take a 41-37 lead into the fourth and final period.
That’s when the words “charity stripe” got used a lot. Fort Mill shot 12 free throws in the final period, eight of them from Tooper. Not to be outdone, Spring Valley went to the line 10 times making six of them.
The tide seemed to turn when Fort Mill’s Will Stumpf got called for what appeared to be a soft foul early in the period. He had to sit down since it was his fourth. Spring Valley made their move behind CJ Rich and Temoney as the Vikings would take the lead with under three minutes to play.
Logan Parker had to check out of the game due to a collision at mid court which sent Stumpf back onto the floor. Stumpf drew a charge within 20 seconds of being back out on the floor. Then came the play that changed the game. Spring Valley’s Jordan Burgess came around the right block only to see Stumpf right there. As Burgess elevated, Stumpf absorbed the contact in what looked like another charge. But, the official on the baseline disagreed calling it a blocking foul ending Stumpf’s night early.
Fort Mill fans, players and coaches were incensed as boos and verbal jabs rained down onto the floor. This fired up the Yellow Jackets as Fort Mill dug in their heels. Christian McCain scored two quick buckets to give Fort Mill the lead back. The Vikings went cold from the field which meant they had to start fouling and sending Fort Mill to the free throw line.
With the score 52-51 Jackets, Tooper made the front end of a one and one with 8.7 seconds left. He missed the second, but Tooper came up with the crucial rebound and got fouled immediately. Tooper nailed both giving Fort Mill an all-important win over Spring Valley.
With the victory, Fort Mill remains tied for first place with Rock Hill. The Bearcats defeated Nation Ford as Clover beat Blythewood breaking the three-way tie at the top of the region.
Girls fall to Lady Vikings
It was a sloppy start in the varsity girls matchup. Both teams committing turnover after turnover trying to get a handle on the flow of the game and each other.
However the skies opened up for both sides as a 3-pointer by Fort Mill’s Izzie Barber got the train rolling for the Jackets only to see Spring Valley retort with a bucket of their own. The contentious first period ended with Fort Mill up 15-14.
The Vikings size and speed began to take its toll in the second stanza as Madison Enzminger and Santa Johnson carried Spring Valley into halftime with a 26-22 lead.
The start of the third period was all Vikings which was a precursor for the entire second half. Zie’l Ratchford and Imari Humphrey carried the Vikings in the third period. In fact, those two scored more points than the entire Fort Mill team in that period.
Unfortunately for the Jackets, the fourth period was more of the same as Spring Valley outscored Fort Mill in the second half 38-12 on their way to a 64-34 victory.
Fort Mill is back on the road Tuesday at Clover and then finishes the regular season at home next Friday night in the Milltown Showdown versus Nation Ford.
