CONCORD – A strong second half powered both the Nation Ford Falcons and Fort Mill Yellow Jackets to opening round wins in the Wolverine Holiday Classic at West Cabarrus High School.
Fort Mill capped off the evening with a 66-43 blowout win over the Phillip O’ Berry High School Cardinals in the first round of the tournament to improve to 6-5 overall on the season. The Jackets used a 27-point third quarter to pull away from the Cardinals.
The Jackets were led by both Braylen McCain and Gabe Tooper, who both dropped in 16 points, to lead Fort Mill. AJ Washington added 11 points in the win as well for the Jackets.
Fort Mill came out of the locker room with a 22-21 lead at the half, and then hit their first 11 shots of the third quarter from the field to outscore the Cardinals 27-8 in the period to go up 49-29 after the quarter.
“The first half I felt like we struggled,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe. “The third quarter was really good. We created a lot of turnovers. We still got a lot to work on. We didn’t do well at the free throw line.”
Tooper scored nine of his 16 in the third quarter and McCain scored 10 of his 16 in the quarter as well as Fort Mill hit 11 of 13 shots from the field.
Fort Mill and Berry started out pretty even with the Cardinals taking a 12-10 lead after the first quarter. The Jackets struggled some in the second quarter, but Washington kept Fort Mill in the game scoring five of his 11 points in the period.
The Jackets had 12 players score in the game and started the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run to lead by 26 points as everyone on the team got some playing time in the game.
Fort Mill will now take on host West Cabarrus Thursday at 6 p.m.
Nation Ford 62, Independence 61 (overtime)
The Nation Ford Falcons used a 26-point fourth quarter to send their game against the Independence Patriots into overtime tied at 52.
Nick Chuttey hit a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to tie the game at 52 after the Falcons trailed 39-26 entering the fourth quarter. Nation Ford outscored Independence 26-13 in the fourth quarter and then 10-9 in the final period as JJ Rembert scored five of the Falcons’ 10-points in the extra period.
Nation Ford was led by Rembert who had 23 points and Chuttey who had 16 points. Sheldon Joseph added 11 in the win.
“We stuck to our guns,” said Nation Ford head coach Charles Brown. “Nick (Chuttey) saved the day. The energy he brings helps us. We started to run the press and was able to mix them up. We didn’t shoot well in the first half.”
Independence led 30-21 after the opening half as Nation Ford hit just two first quarter shots and only seven in the first half. The Falcons were down by 13 at the end of the third quarter, but hit 7-of-11 shots in the fourth quarter with Rembert scoring 12 points in the period.
Nation Ford started chipping away in the fourth quarter led by both Rembert and Joseph, who scored seven of his 11 in the fourth. The Falcons also hit 8-of-11 free-throws in the quarter and cut down on their turnovers.
In the extra period, Nation Ford only took two shots from the field, hitting both of them and were nearly perfect from the free throw line.
Nation Ford improved to 4-8 overall and will take on Hickory Grove in the semi-finals Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
