By John Turner
Correspondent
The Fort Mill basketball teams swept the River Bluff Gators Friday night as the boys game turned out to be a physical one-sided affair in the 62-42 win.
Fort Mill have been starting games slowly so far in 2022, but that wasn’t the case against River Bluff. Freshman AJ Washington drilled a 3-pointer while Gabe Tooper scored seven points nailing a 3-pointer of his own. Both Will Stumpf and Braylen McCain both added four points as Fort Mill would take an 18-11 lead into the second period.
Both teams struggled at times shooting the basketball and turning it over. However, the Jackets would get it going behind six more points from Stumpf and four points from Zach Jennings.
River Bluff could only muster eight points total in the second quarter as Fort Mill enjoyed a 32-19 lead at halftime.
Both teams came out firing in the second half as each team would trade bucket after bucket. As the period wore on both teams went cold reverting back to missed shots and turnovers.
The game remained incredibly physical and the fourth and final period would tell the tale. Three of River Bluff’s starters got into foul trouble sending the Yellow Jackets to the charity stripe time after time. Fort Mil would score an impressive 20 points in the period with help from seven made free throws. Both teams combined to commit 39 fouls for the game. Fort Mill finished 15-25 from the free throw line as River Bluff finished 12-15.
There seemed to be a lid on the basket for River Bluff as they could only muster one basket in the entire fourth period as Fort Mill outscored the Gators 20-11 in the fourth quarter cruising to its largest victory of the season.
With back-to-back victories, Fort Mill has improved to 3-4 on the season. Stumpf led the Jackets with 15 points. Tooper would add 11 points, while McCain and Washington tallied 10 points each.
Next game up for the Yellow Jackets is Tuesday, Dec. 20 versus Union County in the 2022 Chesnee Roundball Class tournament at Chesnee High School.
Fort Mill 48, River Bluff 37
Fort Mill took on a River Bluff team that was sure to be a tough matchup.
Early on, that was definitely the case as River Bluff took the early lead thanks to Jaden Tucker and Erika Violette. A Kate Marker 3-pointer got the Jackets going as Fort Mill battled back. Clare Moore hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one as River Bluff took an 11-10 lead into the second quarter.
The second stanza was a foul marred period for both squads. The Yellow Jackets shot nine free throws as River Bluff attempted 10. Both teams made three buckets as River Bluff clung to their one-point lead at half-time 23-22.
It was Fort Mill who came out swinging in the second half as Jada Chambliss nailed a 3-pointer while Ella Marker cleaned up the glass scoring four points in the third quarter. Reagan Reyes drilled her only 3-pointer of the game as Kate Marker added a bucket.
The Gators weren’t as fortunate as they continued to suffer from turnovers only scoring seven points in the period.
Fort Mill took a 38-30 lead to the final period. Fort Mill would only score 10 points in the fourth quarter and every single point came from the free throw line. River Bluff only scored one bucket in the period as Fort Mill would grind and claw their way to a 48-37 victory.
This is Fort Mill’s fourth victory in their last five games improving their record to 5-3. Ella Marker led all scorers with 12 points. Moore added nine points, as did Reyes.
Next game up for the Lady Jackets is next Wednesday, Dec. 21 against Timberland in the Wilborn Invitational at Rock Hill High.
