ROCK HILL – The Nation Ford Lady Falcons basketball team struggled in several facets of the game as they fell 59-23 in the opening game of the Battle at the Rock against the Byrnes Rebels at Northwestern High School.
Nation Ford is in a rebuilding year after losing several players from last year’s team. The team is so young they have an eighth grader in their starting lineup.
“We are just young,” said Nation Ford head coach Kelly Bennett. “I don’t think people understand when you lose that much talent and leadership, it hurts in the long run. We are literally starting over with brand new players. We have to accomplish one thing at a time.”
The Falcons struggled in the first quarter with 10 unofficial turnovers which stymied any offense they tried to get started.
Nation Ford trailed 18-5 after the opening quarter and hit just 1-of-9 shots from the field. At one point, Byrnes went on a 12-0 run to go up 15-4 in the quarter.
The second quarter didn’t start any better for Nation Ford as they had two quick turnovers which led to consecutive baskets by Byrnes. The Lady Rebels opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run while Nation Ford missed their first eight shots.
Nation Ford struggled with getting any second chance opportunities as their best offense came from Jalyn Bennett at the foul line in the early going.
Eighth grader Ariah Heard started getting hot toward the end of the second quarter and scored seven points for Nation Ford. Heard scored seven of the 10 second quarter points for the Falcons.
Byrnes went up 27-7 with about four minutes left in the half and carried a 35-15 lead into the locker room.
Nation Ford was able to cut down on turnovers in the second quarter which helped offensively but still had 16 turnovers in the first half.
Byrnes opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run with three consecutive turnovers by Nation Ford.
The Falcons struggled with their shot in the third quarter missing all nine shots from the field. Only Aubrey Barney’s foul shots broke the Byrnes scoring streak.
Nation Ford’s turnovers allowed Byrnes to pull away even more taking a 54-18 lead to the final quarter. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock. Heard led the Falcons with 13 points.
The loss drops the Falcons to 0-2 on the season. Nation Ford will next play on Monday, Dec. 4 against Northwestern.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
