The third and final day of the Milltown Basketball Classic went down in history, but not in a good way for the local teams.
There were seven games between Fort Mill, Nation Ford and Catawba Ridge boys’ and girls’ varsity teams Wednesday and all seven games saw the home teams come out on the losing end.
The Nation Ford girls actually played twice on the final day after making the finals of the Milltown Classic. In the morning session, the Lady Falcons lost to Andrew Jackson 56-53 and finished 1-2 in the three-day round robin play. Nation Ford was outscored in the final 3:25 left in the game 8-5. The Falcons’ Elizabeth Cohen led against Andrew Jackson with 17 points.
Catawba Ridge lost to Rock Hill 36-33 to finish 2-1 in round robin play, but pulled out of advancing to the finals, which would have put them playing Rock Hill again, because they were down a player. That put Nation Ford playing Rock Hill in the finals of the girls’ tournament Wednesday afternoon.
Rock Hill would win the girls’ division of the Milltown Classic by beating Nation Ford 62-48 and move to 4-0. The Falcons would drop to 1-3 on the season.
“Nation Ford has a young team striving to develop through each game we play,” said Falcons’ head coach Coretta Richmond. “We are pushing through the mistakes towards getting better. Rock Hill executed their offense and defense well, while we tried to stay in contention and cut the lead.”
Nation Ford was led by Harper McKain, who has 15 points in the loss to Rock Hill. Payton Brookover added 10 points as well.
The Falcons stayed with Rock Hill for most of the first half. However, after each team came out trading buckets, Rock Hill, leading 30-28, went on a 6-0 run to give them enough room to start distancing themselves. Nation Ford struggled with turnovers in the second half including eight in the third quarter and had more than 20 in the game.
Rock Hill held an eight-point lead to start the fourth quarter and went on a 9-0 run to open the final period putting the game out of reach.
In the boys’ game earlier in the day against Andrew Jackson, Nation Ford struggled with their shot from the opening tip and despite a second half rally wasn’t able to get the win falling 47-37 to the second ranked team in 2A.
Nation Ford was led by Malakai Branton with nine points. The Falcons scored just seven first half points and was down 23-7 at the break. The second half was more like Falcons’ basketball as they outscored Andrew Jackson 30-24, but never got over the deficit they were already in. The Falcons are now 0-3 on the season.
Nation Ford girls will now go to their second tournament during the Thanksgiving week as the boys’ team turns their attention to face Catawba Ridge at home Dec. 1.
Fort Mill swept by Spartanburg
The Fort Mill boys fell to 0-3 on the season losing to Spartanburg 63-44, who finished 3-0 over the round robin and was declared the winners of the Milltown Classic on the boys’ side because Rock Hill declined to play them in the championship game Wednesday afternoon.
Fort Mill got off to a slow start and was held scoreless in the first quarter as Spartanburg went up 10-0. The Jackets fought back in the second quarter and trailed 20-13 at the half.
Down by just six at 40-34 entering the fourth quarter, Spartanburg had their best quarter of the game outscoring the Jackets 23-10 in the final period to get the win. Fort Mill’s Kyle Neibch led the way for the Jackets with 22 points.
The Fort Mill girls team lost to Spartanburg 45-35 to fall to 1-2 on the season. Spartanburg and Fort Mill played each other close in the first half, but a big third quarter by the Vikings allowed them the edge they needed as they outscored the Jackets 16-10 in the period.
Both Fort Mill varsity squads will open the regular season next week at Lancaster Dec. 1.
Rock Hill sweeps Catawba Ridge
Rock Hill edged Catawba Ridge 36-33 to give the Copperheads their first loss on the season. The Bearcats kept just enough distance from Catawba Ridge and took a 18-17 lead into the locker room. In the second half, Rock Hill started to pull away and led by four after the third quarter.
In the boys’ game, Rock Hill won 52-51 over the Copperheads, pulling away in the fourth quarter. Catawba Ridge jumped out to a 17-13 lead after the opening quarter, but Rock Hill outscored them 18-9 in the second quarter to take a five-point halftime lead.
Catawba Ridge stormed back to take a five-point lead at 40-35 entering the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold on for the win.
The Copperheads will open the regular at Nation Ford Dec. 1.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
