Coming off one of their worst seasons in school history at 1-15, the Nation Ford Falcons boys’ basketball team has nowhere to go but upward.
This year’s varsity boys’ team is returning six players from last year including seniors Quadier Hand, Devon Fletcher and Khalid Washington, all three of which should help this year’s team.
“We are a work in progress,” said Nation Ford head coach Jared Adamson. “We got a good core coming up from JV. We will be better. They know the system and the expectations. There is going to be no surprises.”
Nation Ford was picked to finish fourth in Region 3-5A this season. One thing that should help this year’s Falcons team is height as they have two 6’8” sophomores in JJ Rembert and Trevor Rayborn.
“They are working hard and we have a good mix of guys,” Adamson said.
The Falcons also have multiple scoring options as well, Adamson added, so there won’t be one go to guy that has to do all the scoring for Nation Ford.
“We got multiple guys that can step up,” he said. “We got five or six guys that can easily score.”
Nation Ford boys will tip off next week at the Milltown Basketball Classic at Catawba Ridge High.
Girls
Nation Ford varsity girls are coming off a 6-14 season last year and will have a pretty young team this year, but head coach Coretta Richmond is optimistic about their chances on the court.
“They are going to be ok,” she said. “They are very coachable, eager to learn and highly energetic.”
The Falcons have just one junior to go with two sophomores and seven freshmen on the team. They also lost a couple of pieces to transfers from last year as well.
The only junior on the team is Marcayla Lawrence with sophomores being Charli Nelson and Aniah Douglas. The Falcons were picked to finish fourth in the region, but by the time region play rolls around, Richmond feels like they will be a lot better.
Fort Mill was picked to win the region, but Richmond feels like they will surprise a lot of teams and should be able to hang with the Jackets.
“I have a lot of pieces,” she said. “By the time we hit Fort Mill, we should be more functional with our defense.”
One thing this young Falcons team has going for it is speed. Richmond said they are quick in transition and despite being small in stature, they are fast.
Nation Ford opens the season next week as part of the Milltown Classic playing at home hosting the girl’s side of the tournament.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
