Yellow Jackets ready for opening tip-off

A young Fort Mill Yellow Jackets basketball team will open up the girls’ regular season this week with games against South Pointe and South Point.

Up first for Fort Mill is the South Carolina version of South Pointe on the road in Rock Hill this week before opening the home schedule against the North Carolina version of South Point from Gaston County.

The Jackets have five seniors on the roster, said head coach Brett Childers, and underclassmen who gained valuable experience last season.

“We are going to try and pick up the pace this year,” he said. “The guards I have this year are experienced ones.”

Fort Mill will be led by senior Sharae Redmon, who will play both the guard and forward. Other guards Childers will rely on are juniors Meredith Christopher and Kimber Haley. The roster includes three freshmen and three sophomores. Fort Mill was picked sixth in the preseason poll for Region III.

“We are kind of an unknown,” Childers said. “We have lost our four leading scorers over the last two seasons. We got a lot of holes to fill.”

With the tallest player on the roster – forward sophomore Emily Ambrose at 5-foot-11 – Childers said a smaller type, guard-heavy lineup will be expected to play crisp defense.

After the opening week, Fort Mill will have games at Westwood before tipping off the region schedule against Northwestern Dec. 15 at home. Then the Jackets head to York two days later. They will play in one holiday tournament in Chesnee as part of the Lowe’s Classic Dec. 28-30.

When school resumes, Fort Mill starts back with its region schedule against Clover at home Jan. 8.

Fort Mill will travel to Nation Ford Jan. 22 and will host the Falcons Feb. 12.

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Yellow Jackets ready for opening tip-off."