LANCASTER – The Nation Ford Lady Falcons rallied in the fourth quarter outscoring the Lancaster Bruins 16-4 to get a 36-30 win Tuesday night.
“We have been sick all week,” said Nation Ford head coach Kelly Bennett. “I told them that wasn’t an excuse. If you come to play, you got to play.”
Lancaster opened the first quarter going up 5-0 before a timeout by Nation Ford as the Falcons missed their first six shots in the opening four minutes of the game.
The Lady Bruins applied an intense amount of pressure leading to turnovers by Nation Ford.
The Falcons didn’t score until about a minute left in the quarter as Lancaster led 11-2 after the opening period.
Things got a little better for Nation Ford in the second quarter, despite missing their first six shots again.
The Falcons did outscore Lancaster 7-6 in the quarter, but still struggled with turnovers. Lancaster struggled with them as well, but was able to take a 17-9 lead at the half.
Nation Ford came out to start the second half scoring the first three points. The Falcons tried to press Lancaster, but they were able to break it and get to the basket for high percentage shots.
Nation Ford rallied some to pull within six at 26-20 with about 1:15 left in the third quarter.
The Falcons opened the fourth quarter scoring the first two buckets as they pulled within two points before a Bruins timeout. Nation Ford tied the game at 26 out of the timeout as Lancaster opened the fourth quarter with four consecutive turnovers.
Lancaster struggled in the final period getting just three shots off while committing 10 turnovers.
Nation Ford opened the fourth quarter on a 13-0 run.
Lancaster dropped to 0-8, while the Falcons improved to 7-2. Ariah Heard led Nation Ford with 18 points.
Nation Ford boys fall in close battle
A surge in the fourth quarter allowed the Lancaster Bruins to get a 65-59 win over the Nation Ford Falcons boys basketball team.
The loss drops the Falcons to 4-5 on the year leading to their fourth straight loss.
Nation Ford opened the game on an 11-0 run as Lancaster were unable to make inside shots over the Falcons’ Caden Giles.
The fast start didn’t last as Lancaster went on a small run of their own and cut the lead to 16-9 by the end of the first quarter.
Lancaster continued to cut into the Falcons lead scoring the first six points of the second quarter. The Bruins kept the pressure on Nation Ford, who stayed one step ahead for most of the period. The Falcons took a 26-25 lead at the half.
Lancaster’s Malik Tinsley tied the game at 30 for the Bruins with about 5:15 left in the third quarter.
The two teams would then start trading possession for the next several minutes. Lancaster would have a run thanks to three 3-pointers in the quarter by Tinsley to go up 45-42 heading into the final period. The Bruins hit 8-of-12 shots from the field in the third quarter.
Lancaster got off to a fast start in the fourth quarter grabbing rebounds and scoring in transition to start pulling away.
Nation Ford tried to play catch up but couldn’t getting shots to fall. The Falcons were led by Anthony Pryer with 13 points.
Nation Ford now turns its attention to the holiday tournament next week in Charleston with both the boys and girls team participating in the same tournament.
Dec. 19 Roundup
The Fort Mill girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams beat Northwestern Tuesday evening at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center.
The Lady Jackets won 59-21 to improve to 9-0 on the season, while the Fort Mill boys team won 44-41 on Logan Parker’s 3-pointer at the buzzer to improve to 6-3 on the season.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
