Fort Mill goes back-to-back with Region titles

For a team that lost 95 percent of its offense from last year, winning a second consecutive region title isn't bad for the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets.

Fort Mill clinched Region IV-5A with a 61-45 win over Nation Ford in a hostile environment on the road, rallying in the second half with a 13-for-23 performance from the field. The Jackets were picked toward the bottom of the region in the preseason, but again proved a lot of people wrong.

“They have bought into the system,” Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe said.

Fort Mill trailed 23-19 at the half and it was Nation Ford that had the hot shooting hand in the first half after hitting 10-of-15 attempts. The Falcons used short range jumpers in the opening quarter to pull ahead and Khydarius Smith was a problem to be dealt with from the Jackets’ standpoint as he blocked anything near the basket. Fort Mill started 0-6 from the field, allowing the Falcons to get out to a 7-6 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Nation Ford opened things up with an 8-0 run, forcing Fort Mill into a time out to regroup.

The Jackets were able to catch up right before half, but the momentum was clearly in the favor of the Falcons entering the locker room up by four. In the second half, both teams would go on little runs, but Fort Mill struggled to get within that four-point margin. The second half also saw both teams take their time more in setting up their offense, which slowed things down.

Fort Mill’s Keaton Griffin tied the game at 31 with a layup and then scored on the next possession as well to give the Jackets the lead in the third quarter. Tied at 33, Josh Amigo hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter giving Fort Mill a 36-33 lead heading into the final period.

Turning point

In the fourth quarter, Fort Mill’s play was more slowed and methodical as they spread the floor more and ran an open offense looking to get easy baskets. Rob McIntyre hit two critical 3-pointers and Fort Mill shot 60 percent from the field to outscore Nation Ford 25-12 in the final period.

“We got stagnant in the second half,” Nation Ford head coach Jared Adamson said. “It wasn't our night. They hit the shots when they needed too.”

Critical

Putting in Amigo and McIntyre helped to light a fire for Fort Mill as it went on a 9-2 run and pulled within two in the second quarter. Hartsoe said Amigo and McIntyre's play was a big catalyst for Fort Mill in getting the win.

“That second quarter, Amigo and Rob made some huge baskets for us to keep it close,” he said.

Star contributions

Amigo led Fort Mill with 18 points and was 9 of 10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. He also hit three 3-pointers in the game. McIntyre finished with 12 points for Fort Mill coming on four 3-pointers. Nation Ford was led by Zeb Graham who had 13 points and Smith who had 10 points.

On deck

Fort Mill will open the 5A playoffs at home against defending 4A state champion Byrnes, which like Fort Mill moved up to 5A this year, but finished fourth in their region. Nation Ford will hit the road to go to Gaffney to play in the first round of the playoffs.

Box score

Fort Mill 61, Nation Ford 45

Fort Mill 6;13;17;25;-;61

Nation Ford 7;16;10;12;-45

Scoring Summary

Fort Mill - Josh Amigo 18, Rob McIntyre 12, Keaton Griffin 10, Ryan Heriot 9, Austin Grainger 7, Thomas Chrisley 3, Jamal White 2.

Nation Ford - Zeb Graham 13, Khydarius Smith 10, Eric Moulds 6, Malik Bryant 6, Wayde Prince 4, Grayson Loftis 4, Doug Miller 2.

3-pointers: Fort Mill 9 (McIntyre 4, Amigo 3, Grainger, Chrisley), Nation Ford 1 (Graham).

Team fouls: Fort Mill 12, Nation Ford 16.

Fouled out: Graham (NF), Prince (NF)

Records

Fort Mill 18-5, 6-2 Region IV-5A; Nation Ford 14-9, 4-4 Region IV-5A.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Fort Mill goes back-to-back with Region titles."