FORT MILL -- Fort Mill post player Cam Smith said the Yellow Jackets needed a game like the one against South Pointe Friday.
The Yellow Jackets, ranked No. 1 in Class AAAA, got all they could handle from the Stallions but made their free throws down the stretch for a 69-60 win.
The game was a battle from the tip, but Fort Mill opened a 23-17 lead late in the first half and never trailed the rest of the way.
"It was physical inside,'' Smith said. "There were a lot of fouls called, but the refs let us play under the basket. It's good to play a tight game and a good team like South Pointe. It will help us in the long run.''
It was a big game, one that left Fort Mill atop the Region 3-AAAA standings at 6-0, 16-0 overall. South Pointe came in at 4-1 in the region and 10-5 overall, and although the Stallions lost and dropped two games back, they served notice they will be a team to be reckoned with the rest of the way.
The game featured players of the moment, seeming like when someone heated up he laid it down. Smith was the man in the opening quarter, scoring eight points as he staked the Yellow Jackets to a 15-13 lead.
The second quarter was a standoff, with neither team having luck finding the basket. The Stallions were 2-for-15 from the field. Fort Mill was 1-for-11, the only basket coming on a 3-pointer that put the Yellow Jacket ahead 23-17.
But the Stallions tightened the belt just before halftime. C.J. Dreakford, in off the bench, hit an underhand scoop shot. South Pointe regained possession and Tre Erby drove the baseline for a layup that just beat the buzzer.
The teams went into the half with Fort Mill holding a 23-21 lead.
Erby played at Fort Mill until he moved to Rock Hill midway through his freshman year. After the game, Erby and Fort Mill center Chalmers Rogers met on the court and instead of shaking hands, embraced. It was not only out of friendship, but a tribute to the battle the two waged inside.
Erby ended up with 18 points. Rogers had 24 and led all scorers.
"This was an emotional game for me because I know and played with most of Fort Mill's players,'' Erby said. "We came here expecting to win, but Fort Mill is a good team.
"They are truly the No. 1 team in the state, but we're not far behind. It was a great game.''
Fort Mill is not as dependent on guard play as it was last year and is a lot taller, but still operates out of the patient style coach Bailey Jackson demands. The crisp passing paid off the third quarter, with Garret Copeland lighting it up with 10 points.
Copeland hit a pair of 3-pointers, the second with just under two minutes reaming that gave the Yellow Jackets a 46-36 lead, the biggest of the game. But back came the Stallions, getting a free throw from Stephon Gilmore and another buzzer-beater from Erby that trimmed the gap to eight, 46-38, heading into the final quarter.
"The shots were there and I made them,'' Copeland said. "Coach Jackson tells us if we are not hitting our shots to keep shooting and they will fall. We finally started making them in the second half.''
Both teams played mostly man defense and fouls started piling up in the final quarter. But Fort Mill's Rogers, Smith and Torrell Priest and South Pointe's Gilmore and Erby were able to finish even though each had four fouls.
In South Pointe's case, it was matter of putting the Yellow Jackets on the line and hope they missed. They did, but not very often. Fort Mill was 24-for-27 from the stripe, 13-of-14 in the fourth quarter.
"Our free throw shooting was the key,'' Jackson said. "We played a very good team and was able to win. Maybe we showed a lot of people how good we are that we can play with anybody.''
Fort Mill put the ball in Rogers' hands down the stretch and he made all 10 of his free throws in the final two minutes. He was 16-of-16 for the game.
On the other side, Gilmore broke loose after scoring only four points in the first half. He had 13 in the fourth quarter, including a string of seven straight.
"We probably played our best game of the year,'' South Pointe coach Dwayne Hartsoe said. "When you shoot free throws like Fort Mill, you're not going to lose many games. They are worthy of their ranking because they get it done.''
South Pointe -- C.J. Dreakford 2, Stephon Gilmore 18, Cory Kessler 3, Mike Douglas 11, Charles Holmes 4, Tre Erby 18, Josh Bates 3, Aaron Davidson 1
Fort Mill -- Peyton Barker 5, Jared White 3, Garret Copeland 10, Torrell Priest 3, Cam Smith 17, Aaron Cooper 7, Chalmers Rogers 24
| South Pointe | 13 | 8 | 17 | 22 | -- | 60 |
| Fort Mill | 15 | 8 | 23 | 23 | -- | 69 |
3-pointers -- South Pointe 1 (Kessler); Fort Mill 6 (Copeland 2, Barker, White, Priest, Smith. Team fouls -- South Pointe 20; Fort Mill 17. Technical foul -- South Pointe bench
Records: Fort Mill 16-0, 6-0 Region 3-AAAA; South Pointe 10-6, 4-2 Region 3-AAAA
