The third time was even more charming for Fort Mill.
The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets beat Indian Land 58-54 in the third round of the 5A Division II playoffs to punch their ticket to the Upper State championship on Wednesday, March 5 at the Florence Center where they will face the Greenville Red Raiders.
A packed Hive at Fort Mill was the setting for the third meeting of the season between Indian Land and Fort Mill. Fort Mill took the first two meetings, the first one at Indian Land 53-52, and the second one at Fort Mill 52-44. Three of the Warriors four losses were to Fort Mill this season. Fort Mill improved to 26-2 with the win over Indian Land Wednesday.
“I am so proud of them,” said Fort Mill head coach Myron Lowery. “This is a fantastic group. This is an amazing ride. We are enjoying every moment. I am super thrilled for our team, our parents, our administration, the community. The vibe around Fort Mill has been incredible.”
Despite a 6:30 p.m. tip, people started filing into the Fort Mill gym at 5:15. People were still trying to get into the game at the end of the first quarter with a line out the door.
Fort Mill jumped out to a 6-2 start by crashing the boards. Offensive, the Jackets went inside by moving the ball and looking for good shots. Indian Land rallied with the help of a 3-pointer by Sequel Patterson as the teams were tied at 12 after the first quarter.
Neither team was able to breakthrough as when one took a slight lead, the other would rally.
Fort Mill’s Logan Parker and the Warriors’ Mike Jones had a little back and forth scoring in the second quarter as the took the lead for their teams. Parker dropped in 10 of the Jackets’ 15 points, while Jones dropped in 11 of Indian Land’s 15 points.
Despite the back-and-forth, the teams went to the half tied at 27.
Both teams opened the third quarter with turnovers, but both were equally patient as well in trying to set up a good shot. Fort Mill went on a little 4-0 surge, but the Warriors were able to keep pace. Parker kept the momentum in the Jackets corner as Indian Land would turn the ball over on offensive fouls.
Jones tied the game at 36 with a pair of foul shots with 2:35 left in the third quarter. Both teams would trade foul shots to end the period with the Jackets leading by one heading to the fourth quarter.
Parker opened the fourth quarter with a four-point play after knocking down a 3-pointer and getting fouled. That gave the Jackets a five-point advantage.
“That was a big momentum shift,” Lowery said. “That is what Logan Parker does. He is an All-State player. He is one of the Fort Mill greats. He is amazing. Defensively, we made some stops.”
The two teams started sending the other to the charity stripe early in the final period, as the Warriors started to struggle to keep up.
Fort Mill was able to continue to crash the boards to get rebounds and score in transition while taking a 49-39 lead with 4:35 left in the game as they went on a 10-1 run. The fourth quarter wasn’t as intense as the previous three with the help of the Jackets lead.
Indian Land did cut the Fort Mill lead to just eight with 70 seconds remaining, but the Jackets remained strong and went on to get their third win of the season over the Warriors.
Parker led Fort Mill with 24 points, while Jermier Nelson added 16 points in the win.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
