The Fort Mill boys’ basketball team moved into a tie for second in Region 3-5A with a rout of the Blythewood Bengals Friday night.
Fort Mill won 67-39 as the Jackets had two players in double figures with both Gabe Tooper, who led with 18 points, and Braylen McCain, who added 14 points, in the win. The win puts Fort Mill at 4-2 in the region, tied with Blythewood as the two teams split the season series with each one winning at home. Rock Hill leads the region with a 5-1 record after beating Spring Valley Friday as well.
Fort Mill head coach Dwanye Hartsoe said he felt like it was going to be a lot different score, considering the Jackets lost by three at Blythewood Jan. 10.
“Every game we go into we think it is going to be close,” he said. “We are playing better. I though we shot the ball well. I thought we played defense really great.”
Both teams started the game a little sloppy turning it over on each of their first three possessions. Fort Mill shot the ball well all night getting high percentage shots. Tooper scored six of his 18 in the first quarter and Fort Mill held a 10-2 lead after the first eight minutes.
Blythewood came back to make it close opening the second quarter on a 5-0 run to make it 10-7, but Fort Mill responded with a 9-0 run of their own and pulled away. Blythewood would never get that close the rest of the game.
Fort Mill outscored them 22-9 in the second quarter and took a 32-11 lead in the locker room at the break. The Jackets hit all eight of their second quarter shots from the field and missed just one shot from the field the entire first half.
The Jackets opened the third quarter scoring the first two baskets and eventually went up by 20 in the third quarter. McCain did the majority of his damage in the second half scoring 10 of his 14 points. Fort Mill missed two shots in the third quarter as they slowed down the pace of play and Blythewood would answer them on most baskets, but trailed 51-26 entering the final period.
Fort Mill increased their lead to over 30 in the fourth quarter as they let the majority of their bench play.
Lady Jackets hang with Blythewood, but can’t close the deal
The Fort Mill girls’ basketball team fell 46-40 to Blythewood despite giving them fits in the fourth quarter.
Fort Mill trailed by just one at 41-40 after a Clare Moore 3-pointer, but Blythewood finished the game on a 5-0 run.
The Lady Jackets were able to stay competitive with Blythewood for most of the game, but could never seem to find a run they needed to pull ahead.
Blythewood led by four after the first quarter and then extended that lead to 26-18 at the half. Fort Mill struggled with turnovers for much of the game and started the third quarter hitting just one of six shots, while Blythewood went on a 9-2 run.
Fort Mill did better in the fourth quarter outscoring them 13-11, but only managed to catch up with them and not tie the game. The Lady Jackets were led by Jada Chambliss who had 14 points. Ella Marker added 10 points as well for Fort Mill.
The loss drops Fort Mill to 8-14 overall and 1-5 in the region. Fort Mill will host Rock Hill at home next week on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
