The Great Falls Red Devils took on a scrappy Christ Church team Friday night in the second round of the Class-A playoffs.

It was defense and rebounding that allowed Great Falls to defeat the Cavaliers 64-51. Christ Church's Brooks Taylor led all scorers with 20. He also had two of the teams six 3-pointers. He was also able to score inside, which the Red Devils made it difficult for the rest of the Cavaliers to do.

Led by Xavier Holmes, who had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Jamarcus Culp, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, Great Falls controlled the boards at both end of the floor.

The Red Devils had balanced scoring. Shaquille Simpson had 13 for Great Falls, and Ernest Talford contributed 12. Great Falls' defense allowed the Red Devils to stretch a 30-24 lead to as much as 19, as Christ Church was held to only five third quarter points.

The Cavaliers managed to cut the lead to nine at 52-43. Great Falls, which shot 19 free throws to Christ Church's five, managed to make enough to hold off the Cavaliers for the win.

Great Falls (24-1) advances to the third round of the playoffs. Christ Church finished its season at 18-7.

Christ Church - Brooks Taylor 20, Jeb Helmers 12, Chandler Carpenter 9, Quan White 8, Dion Burdine 2.

Great Falls - Xavier Holmes 16, Ernest Talford 12, Shaquille Simpson 13, Jamarcus Culp 15, Brandon Criscoe 8.

3-pointers - Christ Church 6 (Taylor 2, Helmers 2, Carpenter 1, White 1). Great Falls 3 (Criscoe 1, Talford 1, Simpson 1).

Fouls - Christ Church 13, Great Falls 11.

Records: Christ Church 18-7, Great Falls 24-1.

Berea 79, South Pointe 78: Former North Carolina coach Dean Smith used to say, "You can't win a game in the first half but you can lose it."

The South Pointe Stallions put that theory to the test in the second round of the Class AAA playoffs in Rock Hill.

The Stallions went 5 of 15 from the free-throw line in the first half and dug themselves a 39-28 halftime hole. That hole proved just a little too deep to dig out of as their frantic comeback in the last 1:30 of the game was not quite enough, and the Stallions fell one agonizing point short to the Bulldogs.

"Free throws were the difference," South Pointe coach Melvin Watson said. "We missed 15 as a team and we lost by one. But those guys left it all out there tonight."

The Stallions still trailed 70-62 with 1:35 remaining but continued to employ their strategy of driving to the basket and not just shooting threes. The strategy almost worked to perfection as they repeatedly beat the Bulldogs off the dribble and got to the rim.

Each time, the Stallions put Berea on the line and forced the Bulldogs to ice it there. The Bulldogs felt the pressure and only converted 12 of 23 in the final quarter. Two missed free throws by the game's high scorer with 21 points, Berea senior Lex Davis, with 16.9 ticks left and a subsequent 3-pointer by Stallions sophomore guard Tyreece Brice cut it to 79-78.

The Bulldogs lost the ball out of bounds and South Pointe had a chance to win it with 6.4 to go.

However, they had to go the length of the floor under pressure, and were unable to get a good look. The final shot fell harmlessly to the floor.

Brice and junior guard Cody Blake had 10 apiece in the quarter and senior guard Manzey Miller had nine. Junior guard Kendal Eichelberger had all eight of his points for Berea in the final frame.

"Our core is young, but that was a good experience against a team like that," Watson said.

Berea - Lex Davis 21, Demarcus Lewis 18, Tre Sullivan 14, Kendal Eichelberger 8, Braylin Black 6, Trez Wright 6, Fred Miles 4, Qua Cureton 2.

South Pointe - Cody Blake 15, Miller 15, Tyreece Brice 12, P. J. Heath 9, Anthony Johnson 9, Xavier Williams 8, Devin Pearson 5, Jamil Simpson 3, Isaiah Rodney 2.

3-pointers: South Pointe 4 (Miller 2, Brice 1, Pearson 1), Berea 4 (Wright 2, Davis 1, Lewis 1).

Team fouls - South Pointe 22, Berea 26. Fouled out - Black, Sullivan (B). Technicals - Miller(SP), Miles (B).

Records: South Pointe 13-12, Berea 20-4.

Steven Bowers

Eastside 74, Fort Mill 68 (OT): The Eagles scored at the buzzer to send the game to overtime, and then outscored Fort Mill in the extra session to win in the second round of the Class AAA playoffs in Taylors.

Coach Dwayne Hartsoe's Yellow Jackets led 63-60 with six seconds remaining in the game. Eastside got the ball to Keil Sherman, who eluded a Fort Mill defender and buried a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to tie the game in regulation,

In overtime, Eastside outscored the Yellow Jackets 11-5, with Sherman doing most of the damage. He opened the overtime period with a 3-pointer. After a Yellow Jacket miss, he got lose in the lane to give the Eagles a five-point lead.

Jon Brown led Fort Mill with 26 points and Riley McGillen added 20. Sherman led Eastside with 22 points. Devarius McGowens added 11 to the winning cause.

Fort Mill - Jon Brown 26, Kevin Woods 2, Riley McGillian 20, Matt Ferguson 2, John Paris 3, Daeqon Antoine 5, Devin Thacker 10.

Eastside - Nigel Owens 9, Tucker Hubmantel 4, Keil Sherman 22, Rodrick Finley 6, Wesley Johnson 15, Kyle Banhoff 6, Devarius McGowens 11, Kyle Jones 1.

3-pointers - Fort Mill 6 (Brown 3, McGillan 2, Antoine 1), Eastside 5 (Sherman 4, Owens 1)

Team fouls - Fort Mill 18, Eastside 20. Fouled out - Woods, McGillan (FM), McGowens (E).

Technical fouls - Johnson, Jones (E).

Records: Fort Mill 17-8, Eastside 21-4

The Greenville News

GIRLS

Greenwood 77, Northwestern 44: From the opening tipoff, Northwestern was no match for Greenwood's quickness and aggressiveness.

Hitting the Trojans with a flurry of steals and fast-break baskets, Greenwood scored the game's first 16 points and never let up in its victory in the second round of the state Class AAAA playoffs.

Though they had watched videotape of Greenwood's trapping, man-to-man defense, the Trojans looked unprepared for the Eagles' relentless pressure.

"I don't think we were as focused or aggressive as they were," said junior Mariah McCoy, who led the Trojans with 12 points. "I think we were as quick as them - we just didn't have the right mindset."

Aubriana Thompson added 10 points for the Trojans, who finished their season 19-6.

Northwestern had a difficult time getting shots early against Greenwood's defense, relying almost exclusively on free throws for its scoring. The Trojans went scoreless for the first 6:13 and made only three field goals in the entire first half.

The Trojans trailed 44-19 at halftime despite sinking 13 of 16 free-throw attempts. McCoy made 7 of 8.

Northwestern - Iesha Love 5, Aubriana Thompson 10, Sha'Shay Alexander 6, Cayse Branyon 2, Paige Samuelson 2, Maria McCoy 12, Courtney Cunningham 3, Natalie Henderson 2, Antonisha Hardy 2.

Greenwood - Courtney Raiford 21, Tianna Swearinger 16, Yanna Jones 16, Elizabeth Powell 7, Da'naji Arnold 3, Jazmyne Williams 4, Da'Sharel Day 8, Neeaulet Gibbs 2.

3- pointers - Northwestern 1 (Thompson), Greenwood 4 (Swearinger, Raiford, Powell, Archie). Team fouls - Northwestern 10, Greenwood 17. Fouled out - None.

Records: Northwestern 19-6, Greenwood 23-1.

John Brazier

Seneca 64, Nation Ford 39: The Falcons entered the AAA state playoffs on a tear, having won nine of their previous 10 games en route to winning the 4-AAA region. But on Friday night, they encountered a Seneca team helmed by point-forward Kianna Holland, one of the top collegiate prospects in the state, who averaged over 22 points a game for the Bobcats this season.

And after missing her first three shots in the game, Holland ignited for a game-high 34 points as the Bobcats routed Nation Ford to oust the Falcons from postseason contention.

"We knew that we had to stop Holland entering this game, and we simply couldn't," said Nation Ford coach Frank Snider. "And as a team, we did everything we could possibly do wrong, from poor defense to poor shooting."

The Bobcats' lead ballooned to over 20 points in the third quarter as Holland added 10 points to her total in the quarter on 4-6 shooting.

Seneca - Kianna Holland 34, Ciara Boggs 14, Zana Earle 6, Summer Jones 5, Briante Thompson 4, Gary Hamilton 1.

Nation Ford - Katie Bright 14, Taylor Yarborough 8, Kia McCorvey 5, Paris Bankole 4, Zharne Glover 3, Ellen Bright 2, Alexis Brice 2, Chelsea Gant 1.

3-pointers - Seneca 7 (Holland 5, Earle 2), Nation Ford 0.

Team fouls - Seneca 18, Nation Ford 21. Fouled out - Ellen Bright (NF).

Records: Seneca 15-10, Nation Ford 15-9.

Jason Chisari