The Nation Ford Falcons boys’ basketball team held off a second half run by the Charlotte Latin Hawks to open their basketball season with a win.
The Falcons won 59-58 and had three players in double figures led by Ben Chuttey’s 16 points. Drew Robertson and Anthony Pryer each had 11 points in the win for Nation Ford.
“It was a good fight,” said Nation Ford boys’ head coach Charles Brown. “We aren’t far off from where I expected us to be. I expected us to play well.”
Nation Ford got into foul trouble early in the opening quarter, but was also strong from behind the 3-point arc. Three of the five shots the Falcons hit in the opening quarter were 3-pointers.
That foul trouble by the Falcons gave Charlotte Latin some extra chances at the line.
Nation Ford opened the second quarter with a one-point advantage. Chase Walters drained a 3-pointer to start the scoring for the Falcons. The 3-pointers helped Nation Ford extend their lead to 21-16 as Walters and Robertson drained a couple for the Falcons.
Nation Ford picked up the pace of the game scoring in transition. In the first six minutes of the quarter, the Falcons outscored Latin 16-4. At the half, Nation Ford was up 32-18.
Charlotte Latin opened the second half with consecutive baskets to cut the Falcons lead to 10. They continued to chip away as the Falcons started struggling offensively.
The Hawks went on a 14-2 run to pull within two at 34-32. It the Falcons’ turn to then put together a run with a 12-0 explosion to give them some much needed breathing room.
Nation Ford led by eight to enter the final quarter, but with the runs both teams were making, it was far from over.
Charlotte Latin opened the fourth quarter on another run 6-2 run cutting into the Falcons lead. While they chipped away, the Hawks weren’t able to tie the game as Nation Ford stayed aggressive on offense.
Latin made a late run to pull within one, but missed a shot that would have been the game winner with 3.5 seconds left.
Lady Falcons fall in closing seconds
The Charlotte Latin Lady Hawks edged Nation Ford 44-42 scoring the game winner with seven seconds left.
Offense for both teams was hard to come by to start the game as they combined for just seven points in the first five minutes of the game.
Nation Ford got shots up, but didn’t have a lot of luck getting them to go in. Despite that, they were able to take a 10-6 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Lady Falcons struggled some in opening the second quarter. Charlotte Latin was able to get to the basket easier and opened on a 6-2 run.
Nation Ford kept it close but struggled with shooting. Ariah Heard and Aubrey Morrow kept the Lady Falcons afloat in the second quarter. Heard led Nation Ford at the half with seven as the Lady Falcons trailed by one at 23-22.
Both teams started the second half strong. Both were more patient with the ball leading to better shot selection.
Scoring was low in the third quarter, as each team traded baskets for most of the quarter. Nation Ford did struggle with turnovers in the third quarter leading to Latin taking a small lead towards the end of the third quarter at 34-30.
Kayla Wilmore hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter for Nation Ford which started a 5-0 run for the Lady Falcons leading to a Latin timeout. Latin was able to rally and tie the game, before pushing ahead by a couple.
It was Nation Ford that put together a rally at that point and tied the game at 42 on a Wilmore basket, before Latin took the final lead of the game.
Wilmore led with 14 points and Heard added 13 points. The Lady Falcons dropped to 2-2 on the season.
Dec. 3 Roundup
The Fort Mill boys’ basketball team improved to 3-0 with a 73-51 win over Providence at home. Logan Parker led with 26 points for the Jackets and Jemier Nelson added 20 points for Fort Mill. The Fort Mill girls’ basketball team improved to 2-1 with a 63-39 win as well over Providence.
The Catawba Ridge boys’ basketball team fell to Palisades 54-36 on the road to drop to 1-2 on the season.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
