All three local high school boy’s teams won on the opening day of the Milltown Basketball Classic at Catawba Ridge High.
Nation Ford, Fort Mill and Catawba Ridge all came away with wins and set up semi-final games on Tuesday. In the semi-finals, Nation Ford will take on Riverside, who beat Spartanburg 58-54, in the first match-up at 7:30 p.m. followed by Fort Mill and Catawba Ridge in the second semi-final at 8:45 p.m. With both Fort Mill and Catawba Ridge winning, it guarantees at least one Fort Mill based school will make it to the finals of the boy’s bracket. All boy’s games will be played at Catawba Ridge.
Nation Ford wins to open the season
The Falcons beat Piedmont 50-23 to open the tournament. Nation Ford opened the game on an 11-0 run in the first quarter to take a solid lead and then went up 22-0 before Piedmont scored with 1:40 left in the first half. Nation Ford took a commanding 24-4 lead at the half and never looked back.
“I thought we shared the ball well,” said Nation Ford head coach Jared Adamson. “The guys did a good job defensively. We still have to figure out our identity.”
Nation Ford was led by Nas Berry who scored 12 points in the win.
Jackets hold off late charge by Parkwood
Fort Mill held on to win 61-54 in the third game of the evening as they beat Parkwood. The Jackets went on runs throughout the game which helped to propel them to the win.
The Jackets went on a 11-0 run in the first quarter to go up 16-6 and then were able to hold the pressure on Parkwood in the first half keeping them off balance to go up 40-25 at the half. Kyle Neibch led Fort Mill with 22 points, 14 of those coming in the first half.
Fort Mill opened the second half on a 6-0 run to go up by 21, but Parkwood chipped away at their lead for much of the second half and pulled within seven with 2:23 left in the game. The Jackets were aided by Gabe Tooper who dropped in 14 points, nine of which came in the second half.
“We shot the ball well at times,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe. “We have a lot of young guys playing in their first varsity games. There is some stuff we need to work on.”
Fort Mill struggled in the fourth quarter with nine turnovers as Parkwood doubled them up outscoring them 20-10.
Late 3-pointer gives Catawba Ridge the win
A nearly half-court three pointer by Catawba Ridge’s Carter Hendrick as time expired gave the Copperheads a 58-56 win over Rock Hill in the last game of the evening.
Hendrick scored 12, but it was his 3-pointer that iced the game for Catawba Ridge. Head coach Brett Childers said his team had some nerves unexpectedly going into the game.
“We played well in spurts,” he said. “Defensively we played sporadically. We have to be better going forward.”
Both teams got off to a quick start and a late run in the opening quarter gave Catawba Ridge a 20-13 lead after the first quarter. However, Rock Hill would rally and outplayed the Copperheads a lot the rest of the way.
In the second quarter, Rock Hill outscored Catawba Ridge as they would win the remaining three quarters against the host team. Grant Lovette led the Copperheads with 19 points, 10 of those coming in the first half as Catawba Ridge took a 33-26 lead into the break.
In the second half, Rock Hill was able to close the gap even more and pulled within four to end the third quarter at 45-41. The fourth quarter saw Rock Hill tie the game at 53-53 with 2:30 left as the two teams battled for the last shot the rest of the way down the stretch.
After Rock Hill took a 56-55 lead with about six seconds left, Hendrick was able to get in position to hoist his game winner up just past the half court line.
Girl’s bracket
The girl’s bracket saw only one of the three local high schools come away with a win at Nation Ford.
Catawba Ridge beat Piedmont 59-22 as they were led by Skyla Tuthill, who scored 22 points, and Makailah Davis, who added 16 points in the win. Tuthill scored 16 points in the first quarter and the Copperheads opened the game up with a 31-point first quarter.
The good start was needed as Catawba Ridge didn’t score in the second quarter, but added a 17-point third quarter and dropped 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Catawba Ridge will now face Rock Hill in the semifinals of the girl’s bracket as the Bearcats beat Riverside. That game is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Nation Ford Tuesday.
Fort Mill lost to Parkwood 49-37 in their opening game Monday. Dylan Harder led the way for the Jackets with 11 points and Nadia Dial added 10 points in the loss. Nation Ford lost to North Myrtle Beach 50-40 in the late game to end day one.
Fort Mill and Nation Ford will now play on the consolation side of the bracket at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday with the winner playing for fifth place Wednesday and the loser playing for seventh place also on Wednesday.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
