Fort Mill’s Kyle Neibch drives past Nation Ford’s Nas Berry during their game Tuesday night at Nation Ford.

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets swept the Nation Ford Falcons in their first meeting on the hardwood this season Tuesday night.

Fort Mill boys won 53-37 and the girls won 47-40 with both Jacket squads rallying to pick up the win. The Fort Mill boys improved to a Region 3-5A leading 3-0 on the season and 15-4 overall, while the Jackets’ girls team picked up their first region win and are now 1-2 in the region and 7-13 overall.

The Fort Mill boys were led by Kyle Neibch who scored 24 points and Gabe Tooper added 13 points as the Jackets trailed 14-9 after the first quarter, but then opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run and outscored Nation Ford 18-2 in the period to pull ahead and never look back.

Fort Mill took a 27-16 lead at the half as they shot 70 percent from the field in the second quarter with the help of Neibch scoring 13 of his 24 points in the quarter.

“The second quarter was really good for us,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe. “Kyle got going and made some tough shots”

Nation Ford struggled from the field shooting and offensively didn’t get many shots off as they went 0-5 in the second quarter and went a pretty lengthy period without scoring between the first and third quarters.

The Falcons played better in the second half and were able to pull within 10 points at 32-22 with four minutes left in the third quarter. However, turnovers were an issue for Nation Ford as they struggled from the second quarter onward with controlling the ball.

In the fourth quarter, Fort Mill didn’t shoot the ball a lot, but lived at the foul line as it allowed them to keep their distance from the Falcons. The Jackets hit 11-of-16 free-throws in the fourth quarter.

The loss drops the Falcons to 1-2 in the region and is 6-12 overall on the season. The Fort Mill boys next play Monday, Jan. 31 against Gaffney.

Fort Mill girls led by twin towers

The Fort Mill girls’ team was led by their two tallest players in Nadia Dial and Ella Marker as they got the win over Nation Ford.

Dial led Fort Mill with 23 points and 18 rebounds and Marker added 12 points in the win for the Jackets.

Nation Ford was led by Camille Kerridge who scored 19 points.

The Falcons jumped out to a 13-2 lead after the first quarter, but Fort Mill started clawing their way back as they outscored Nation Ford 18-8 in the second quarter and trailed by just one at the half. Marker scored eight of her 12 points in the second quarter.

Dial started dominating inside as she scored nine of her 23 points in the third quarter leading Fort Mill to a 37-31 lead after the period.

“Nadia was pretty dominate,” said Fort Mill head coach Heather Klipa. “Ella played well. They stepped up when they needed to.”

Nation Ford struggled shooting for the majority of the game after the opening quarter. The Falcons, starting five freshmen, fell to 5-14 overall and 1-2 in the region.

“We did everything right in the first quarter,” said Nation Ford head coach Coretta Richmond. “We are a team in transition. The third quarter we struggled. We are going to have to learn to win the close game.”

Fort Mill heads to Spring Valley Wednesday for a make-up game, while the Falcons, both the boys and girls, head to Gaffney Wednesday.

Wrestling

The Fort Mill wrestling team split a tri-match with Gaffney and Clover Tuesday. Fort Mill lost to Clover 58-13 and beat Gaffney 42-37. The Jackets are 14-7 overall and 2-1 in region matches. They next wrestle Boiling Springs Friday to finish out their region schedule.

Catawba Ridge beat both Chesterfield and Buford in a tri-match Tuesday. The Copperheads ran through Chesterfield 75-6 and beat Buford 42-35 to improve to 14-6 overall on the season.  Catawba Ridge now heads to the Region 3-4A duals Wednesday at South Pointe.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep

Fort Mill’s Nadia Dial drives the floor as Nation Ford’s Kayla Wilmore gives chase.