YORK – History was made for the Catawba Ridge boys basketball program as they easily won 87-43 over the York Cougars Friday night on the road.
Senior Zyan Hager became the founding member of the 1,000-point club for the school leading the Copperheads to the win.
York went up 5-2 early in the first quarter, but then Catawba Ridge went on a 7-0 run to quickly get the lead.
Hager and Lance Barnes nearly single handily outscored York in the first quarter. The two combined for 18 points, while the Copperheads led 22-16 after the first quarter.
York clawed their way back into the game opening the second quarter with a 3-pointer. However, they quickly fell further behind due to the Copperheads speed and aggressive offensive play.
Hager and Barnes continued to lead offensively staying on the attack. Catawba Ridge outscored York 23-7 in the second quarter and led 45-23 at the half. Barnes was perfect in the first half going 10-for-10 from the field for 20 first half points. Hager had 18 points at the half as Catawba Ridge hit 17-of-30 shots from the field in the first half.
“We were happy with our rhythm,” said Catawba Ridge head boys coach Brett Childers. “Lance and Zyan got us off to a good start.”
The Copperheads continued to push the pace in the third quarter. Hager hit a 3-pointer with 4:50 left in the quarter giving him his 1,000th career point. He is the first Catawba Ridge player, boy or girl, to hit the mark for the school.
“It’s a blessing,” Hager said on hitting 1,000 points. “My goal was to just win the game. I knew I needed 25 coming in. I didn’t care when I got it, but I had 18 at the half so I thought I would just go for it.”
Hager ended the quarter and game with 32 points in the game as the Copperheads led 71-35 after the third quarter.
Barnes finished with 24 points for Catawba Ridge as him and Hager combined for 56 points.
The Copperheads travel to Lancaster Tuesday, Jan. 16 for a crucial Region 3-4A game. The game between the two schools will pit two top 5 4A teams against each other as they tied for a share of the region title last season.
“It is a big game,” Childers said. “It is an important game. Our guys are ready.”
Catawba Ridge is now 15-2 overall on the season and 2-0 in region play.
Lady Copperheads get key region win
The Catawba Ridge Lady Copperheads won their first Region 3-4A game of the season beating York 56-20.
The Copperheads came out strong going up 13-0 in the first four minutes of the first quarter before York scored. Most of that scoring came from Morgan Davis who scored nine points in that run. Davis got into foul trouble in the first quarter, but that didn’t stop Catawba Ridge from going up 23-4 after one period.
Addison Cunningham was able to score eight points in the quarter as well to help the Copperheads
continue their momentum.
Catawba Ridge kept their foot on the gas and started the second quarter on another 7-0 run, mostly coming off fast breaks and takeaways.
Scoring slowed down after the initial run by the Copperheads, mostly because of the excessive foul calls on both teams often stopping play. The Copperheads shot 17 foul shots in the first half.
Cunningham continued to lead Catawba Ridge scoring four more points in the second quarter as the Copperheads led 35-14 at the half.
“We came out with really high energy and came out ready to play and compete,” said Catawba Ridge girls head coach Sheridan Pressley. “It ended up being a good night. We have to stay present and worry about one game at a time.”
Catawba Ridge opened the second half like they had the previous two quarters, this time putting together a small 6-0 run to go 41-14.
The Copperheads struggled some shooting hitting just 4-of-18 shots from the field, but still led by 27-points at the end of the third quarter.
Davis led Catawba Ridge with 21 points as the Copperheads won by 36 points. Cunningham finished with 13 points and Taylor Reilly added 12 points.
The win improves Catawba Ridge to 3-14 on the season and 1-1 in the region.
Jan. 12 Roundup
The Fort Mill boys’ basketball team beat Rock Hill 59-36 and was led by AJ Washington with 15 points and Nas Berry with 10 points. Fort Mill improved to 12-6 overall and 2-0 in Region 3-5A.
The Fort Mill girls’ basketball team fell to Rock Hill 52-30 and dropped to 0-2 in the region. The are now 14-4 overall on the season.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
