ROCK HILL – A third quarter surge by the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets allowed them to shake off a bad start against the Northwestern Trojans.
Fort Mill won 59-44 outscoring the Trojans 34-17 in the second half. But the first half was a different story.
“They outplayed us,” said Fort Mill boys’ head coach Myron Lowery, “They came out with more intensity. We made a couple of adjustments and I told them they were still losing at the half. They had to play harder and smarter. We have to play all four quarters.”
Northwestern hung with Fort Mill through much of the first quarter. The Jackets struggled in the paint making high percentage shots. The Trojans held a slim 13-11 lead after the opening period.
Northwestern was able to stay one step ahead of the Jackets in the second quarter holding a consistent two-possession lead. Fort Mill started pressuring the ball more. However, it allowed for Northwestern to be able to break the press and score.
Both Jermier Nelson and AJ Washington didn’t get a lot of shot opportunities in the second quarter leaving much of the offense up to Wallace Campbell. Campbell scored eight of 14 points in the quarter for the Jackets.
Fort Mill was able to close the gap towards the end of the second quarter and trailed by just two at the half.
The Jackets tied the game to open the third quarter, and was able to keep Northwestern off balance enough forcing them into an early timeout. Fort Mill was strong on the defensive glass allowing the Trojans about one shot per possession.
Washington found a groove as he was able to push the Jackets out front. Fort Mill went on a 6-0 run to give them some breathing room. Nelson was key for the Jackets in the quarter at the foul line converting all four attempts.
Fort Mill took a 10-point lead to the fourth quarter behind the play of Nelson and Washington. The Jackets opened the final period with a 6-0 run by Campbell to push their lead to 51-35.
After the timeout, the Jackets remained strong on offense but slowed things down. Fort Mill was able to maintain their consistency on defense while the Trojans struggled with offensive rebounds and turnovers.
The Jackets were led by Nelson with 19 points and 18 points from Campbell. Washington added 13 points as Fort Mill improved to 4-0 in Region 3-5A play and 15-3 overall.
Girls’ basketball
The Fort Mill girls’ basketball team rolled to a 47-point win over Northwestern by a score of 70-23.
The Lady Jackets started out aggressive on offense taking long range shots and driving hard to the basket. That allowed Fort Mill to take a 11-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Colbie Wolf scored seven of the Lady Jackets 11 first quarter points and kept things going for them to start the second quarter.
While strong on offense, the Fort Mill defense was just as good. They held Northwestern to just three points in the first five minutes of the quarter and caused multiple turnovers leading to baskets in transition for the Lady Jackets.
Fort Mill surged offensively outscoring the Lady Trojans 34-9 in the second quarter to lead 45-16 at the half. The Lady Jackets were led by Kate Marker who scored 15 points in the period.
Fort Mill continued to cruise in the second half going up by 40 with five minutes left in the third quarter leading to all the starters coming out. The Lady Jackets outscored Northwestern 12-0 in the third quarter.
Marker led Fort Mill with 23 points. Wolf added 22 points for the Lady Jackets in the win.
The Lady Jackets improved to 7-11 overall and 2-2 in the region. Fort Mill has a bye next Tuesday and will play again on Friday, Jan. 16 hosting Indian Land.
Jan. 9 Roundup
The Nation Ford boys’ basketball team beat Rock Hill 56-36 to improve to 14-3 overall on the season and 3-0 in Region 3-5A play. The Lady Falcons fell to Rock Hill 57-53 to drop to 7-9 overall and 2-1 in region play.
The Catawba Ridge girls’ basketball team beat Indian Land 50-40 to improve to 8-5 overall and 2-1 in Region 3-5A play. The Copperhead boys’ team lost by the same score to drop to 10-5 overall and 1-2 in the region.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
