A valiant effort by the Catawba Ridge Copperheads almost upset the No. 2 ranked Indian Land Warriors.
Indian Land won 63-53 over the Copperheads pulling away in the fourth quarter, but not before a scare from Catawba Ridge.
“We played 30 minutes of solid basketball,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers. “That was a solid effort on our part. We weren’t quite at the point to get over the hump.”
The Warriors started strong, but Catawba Ridge was able to match them shot for shot and stay with the Warriors. A 3-pointer by Bradley Petty put the Copperheads ahead by three at 14-11, but the Warriors would tie the game at 15 at the end of the first quarter.
Catawba Ridge started the second quarter on a 7-2 run to take a five-point lead over the Warriors before an Indian Land timeout. Indian Land was able to chip away and tie the game at 28 with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Catawba Ridge went on another small 7-2 run in the final two minutes allowing them to take a 35-30 lead at the half. Kevin Butler hit two big 3-pointers before the half.
Indian Land started getting to the basket more in the second half, but the Copperheads were able to stay with them. Mark Caslaru had a big presence inside for the Copperheads in the third quarter.
Indian Land was able to cling to a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Warriors were more patient in the fourth quarter looking for the best shot while able to slow the game down.
Catawba Ridge started fouling down the stretch in the final minute to try and get more possession, but ran out of time as the Warriors won by 10.
Caslaru led the Copperheads with 16 points as they dropped to 10-13 overall and 3-6 in Region 3-5A.
Turnovers plague Copperheads
Turnovers and scoring struggles led to the Catawba Ridge Lady Copperheads falling to Indian Land 37-23.
Scoring was slow to come by for both girls’ teams in the opening quarter. Catawba Ridge scores six of the first seven points, before Indian Land pulled within two with a 3-pointer.
The Warriors tied the game at six shortly after the start of the second quarter.
Indian Land was able to pull ahead taking advantage of Copperheads miscues. Catawba Ridge struggled shooting as they hit just one of their first six attempts from the field in the second quarter before a timeout.
The Copperheads had trouble getting good looks inside the lane and was unable to consistently stop Indian Land on defense. That allowed Indian Land to take an 18-10 lead at the break.
Catawba Ridge opened the second half on a 9-0 run to regain the lead. Indian Land didn’t score its first points until less than two minutes left in the third quarter. The Warriors then went on a 6-0 run to finish the third quarter with the lead again.
In the fourth quarter, Indian Land’s defensive pressure led to Catawba Ridge turnovers.
Turnovers continued to plague Catawba Ridge in the final period of the game allowing the Warriors to get their first Region 3-5A win of the season.
Both Brooks Dority and Brooke Berninzoni each had eight points to lead Catawba Ridge.
The Copperheads dropped to 8-13 and 3-6 in the region.
Feb. 4 Roundup
The Fort Mill basketball teams swept Northwestern with the boys’ team winning 63-36 as Jermier Nelson has a career high 28 points. Nas Berry added 13 points in the win for Fort Mill, who improved to 21-2 overall and 10-0 in Region 3-5A. The Lady Jackets also won beating Northwestern 51-28 to improve to 7-3 in the region and 13-9 overall.
The Nation Ford basketball teams split with Rock Hill. The Lady Falcons lost to Rock Hill 68-40 to drop to 11-12 overall and 5-4 in Region 3-5A. The boys team won 57-50 to improve to 10-13 overall and 2-7 in the region.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
