In life and in basketball, the usual rule of thumb is the old expression, "it's not how you start, but how you finish." Unfortunately for Rock Hill, a poor beginning directly led to a 70-62 defeat at the hands of visiting South Pointe.
The Stallions started the game with a high level of intensity both offensively and defensively. It took four minutes for South Pointe to jump ahead 12-0, despite two timeouts by Rock Hill coach Bobby Stevens to stop the bleeding.
The Bearcats finally lighted up their half of the scoreboard with a basket from Gayland Jenkins on an assist by Jontavius Stewart with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bearcats outscored the Stallions from that point forward, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
South Pointe's lead grew to as many as 14 points twice in the second quarter before Dominic Cathcart nailed a 3-pointer and Xavier McFadden sank a jumper for a five-point run to cut it to nine points at intermission.
Rock Hill closed the gap to seven in the opening minutes of the second half, but South Pointe's deep lineup stretched the lead to 17 on a 12-1 run midway through the third quarter, capped by a bucket by Breon Jaggers.
Still, the Bearcats showed no signs of quitting. K.J. Gober came off of the bench and swished a shot from deep. The three points were Gober's only mark on the score sheet, but the basket sparked a 13-2 run that gave his squad some hope.
Each time South Pointe looked to pull away, Rock Hill roared back. Thanks to some missed free throws and several Stallions turnovers, Rock Hill whittled the lead to just one point in the game's waning seconds.
Rock Hill had a couple of possessions with an opportunity to take the lead and looked to Stewart, who had come up big all game long for the Bearcats.
On two occasions, Stewart drove into the lane and knocked down a layup, only to be whistled for an offensive foul. The second foul resulted in a technical foul on Stewart, sending him to the bench for good with a game-high 27 points.
Trailing 63-62 with 28 seconds remaining on the clock, the technical effectively ended hope for the complete rally. Stallions guard Tre Erby calmly sank both foul shots, and South Pointe went on to score the game's final eight points and escape with a win.
Erby led South Pointe with 16 points.
"We made some mistakes late in the game," South Pointe coach Dwane Hartsoe said, "but fortunately we were able to hold on for the win. We have been in some close games, and the prior experience helped us tonight."
Despite the loss, Rock Hill's Stevens walked away with his head held high.
"Two weeks ago, we would have folded and probably lost by 40 points," he said of Rock Hill's early deficit. "I told our kids we are getting closer to turning the corner, but it will take the same effort we saw for the last part of tonight's game for an entire game."
The Bearcats start their second round of region play Friday when they travel to Ridge View, while South Pointe hosts Lancaster before three straight road games.
