Fort Mill’s basketball teams swept crosstown rival Nation Ford in a doubleheader Thursday evening.
The games had originally been set for Tuesday, but were postponed due to wintry weather.
Fort Mill’s girls team defeated Nation Ford 45-44 in the early game, and the Yellow Jackets’ boys team took down the Falcons 51-36 in the nightcap.
Three Yellow Jackets reached double digits Thursday night to help Fort Mill secure its sixth straight win in Region 3-5A with a 51-36 victory.
Senior guard Logan Parker (16 points), junior small forward Wallace Campbell (13 points), and senior guard Nas Berry (10 points) each contributed to help Fort Mill (17-2, 6-0 in region) bounce out to an early lead and never look back.
Ben Chuttey (14 points) and Gavin Brookover (8 points) led the way for the Falcons (9-10, 1-5).
Fort Mill has now won 13 of its last 14 games.
Fort Mill head coach Myron Lowery said his team improved defensively when it switched from man-to-man to matchup.
“That really helped us when we were scoring,” he said. “It gave them a different look.”
Fort Mill jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the first quarter, thanks to field goals from four different Falcons. Chuttey nailed back-to-back treys to cut the Fort Mill lead to five with 4:30 left in the second quarter.
But the Yellow Jackets responded with two 3-pointers of their own from Noah Johnson and Berry in the following minute to pad their lead.
Fort Mill led by nine at the halftime break.
Fort Mill hit seven of its 11 free throws in the first 6:30 of the third quarter to build its lead to 12.
Campbell hit two quick fast break layups in the space of about 20 seconds to force a Nation Ford timeout early in the fourth.
Lowery said his team is in a good headspace as the Yellow Jackets prepare to travel to another crosstown rival, Catawba Ridge, tomorrow night.
“You’ve got to communicate well,” he said about playing in loud atmospheres. “We always try to make it similar in practice, simulate it as much as possible.”
Lady Jackets hang on for the win
Fort Mill held its hosts to just three field goals in the fourth quarter to edge out a narrow 45-44 region victory on the road against the Lady Falcons.
“The girls did a great job of playing to their strengths and working together to get the best opportunity for us,” said Fort Mill coach Nathan Wruble. “We scheduled our nonconference games to make sure that we were going to be in tough situations. It’s a situation we’ve been in before.”
Aubrey Morrow and Lauryn Atkinson nailed back-to-back treys to push Nation Ford to an early lead, but Zoe Williams helped lead her Fort Mill team back with consecutive fast break layups in the early quarter.
The Yellow Jackets took control with an 11-1 run in the last four minutes of the first, punctuated by a Colbie Wolf 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining.
The visitors forced Nation Ford into a timeout early in the second quarter when Kate Marker’s layup and Gianna DeMauro’s 3-pointer on consecutive possessions pushed the Fort Mill lead to 18-9.
Nation Ford cut the lead to four with 1:30 left, thanks to an Arian Heard trey and a Katelyn McFadden steal that led to a quick layup.
The Yellow Jackets took a 25-20 lead into halftime.
Nation Ford nailed four treys in the third quarter to cut the lead to one. Marker kept the Falcons at bay by hitting her team’s first four field goals of the half from the paint.
Ariah Heard’s trey for Nation Ford at 1:20 cut the lead to 37-36. With less than 90 seconds left in the game, Fort Mill did well to draw fouls and convert three of its last six free throws.
Heard (19 points) wasn’t finished. She hit two more treys in the fourth quarter to keep her team firmly in contention, including a last-second buzzer-beater. But the shot left Nation Ford just one point short.
“Hats off to Nation Ford, they shot the lights out today,” said Wruble. “We need to tighten up defensively, you can come out of these games battered and bruised just like everybody else. It’s going to be tough to recover to get ready for Friday after a physical game like this.”
Fort Mill improves to 11-7, 5-1 in Region 3-5A. Nation Ford drops to 9-10, 3-3 in region. Fort Mill has won its last four games, while Nation Ford is on a 4-game skid.
Fort Mill next plays at Catawba Ridge on Friday. Nation Ford next hosts Northwestern also on Friday.
