Nation Ford's boys rally to get to finals, finishes 2nd

The Nation Ford High boys’ basketball team lost to Stratford 48-43 in the finals of the Berkeley Holiday Classic Thursday.

In the semifinals, a tight game with Timberland came down to the wire as Nation Ford's Zeb Graham hit the first of two free throws to put the Falcons into the finals of the Berkeley Holiday Classic giving them a 38-37 win.

The free throw came with 0.5 seconds on the clock and didn't give Timberland an opportunity to go the length of the court to score before time ran out.

The game was a cumulative defensive struggled from both teams as each played a stifling defense against the other.

"Give credit to Timberland," said Falcons' head coach Jared Adamson. "Their defense gave us fits."

Both teams ended the first quarter tied 6-6. Nation Ford struggled with turnovers through most of the game. Timberland went up early in the second quarter, and Nation Ford didn't score a basket in the second quarter until about three minutes remained.

In the second half, Nation Ford opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run, powered by the play of Eric Moulds. Both teams struggled in shooting and the game became very physical between the two, as Nation Ford hit just four of 12 shots in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Timberland started trapping Nation Ford on inbounds passes and was able to cut the lead to just one at 30-29. The Wolves then went on a 6-0 run, but Nation Ford was able to battle back to tie the game at 34.

Earlier in the tournament, Nation Ford was able to get off to a hot start and tore through Georgetown 65-47 in the first game.

Turning point

With about 30 seconds left in the game, Timberland had a chance to take the lead coming out of a time out. After getting the ball back with about 9.5 seconds left, the Wolves had two more chances to score, missed both field goals, but was fouled in the process of the second one, sending Waun'Ye Cox to the line where he hit one of two to tie the game at 37. Had he hit both or if Timberland scored on one of those two field goal attempts, things might have turned out different for Nation Ford.

Critical

In the second quarter, Nation Ford went over five minutes without scoring, but once it did, the lid came off the basket for the Falcons as they went on a 7-0 run to take a one-point lead at the half. Nation Ford also battled back from a 6-0 run by Timberland in the fourth quarter to tie the game in the final two minutes.

Star contributions

Moulds led Nation Ford with 11 points in the game, scoring eight in the third quarter. Graham had eight, including the game-winning free throw.

On deck

Nation Ford returns to action this week with a non-region road game at Indian Land before opening Region IV play at Rock Hill Jan. 10. Their first home region game will be Jan. 17 against Northwestern.

Box score

Nation Ford 38, Timberland 37

Timberland 6;10;9;12;-;37

Nation Ford 6;11;10;11;-38

Scoring Summary

Timberland: Ra Anderson 9, JR Gibbs 7, Kevin Gadsden 4, Tyler Sumter 4, Tasean Johnson 4, Keon Weaver 3, Waun' Ye Cox 3, Jaquan Williams 2, Deondre Williams 1. Nation Ford: Eric Moulds 11, Zeb Graham 8, Khydarius Smith 7, Travell Crosby 7, Malik Bryant 5.

3-pointers: Timberland 4 (Anderson, Weaver, Gibbs, Sumter), Nation Ford 3 (Graham 2, Moulds). Team fouls: Timberland 15, Nation Ford 9.

Records

Timberland 5-5; Nation Ford 9-3.

This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Nation Ford's boys rally to get to finals, finishes 2nd."