Girls win, boys lose; Falcons inch closer to a playoff bid

The Nation Ford Falcons girls’ basketball team inched closer to a Region IV playoff berth with a 48-32 win over Northwestern Friday night.

The Falcons were led by sophomore Ellona Moulds and freshman Kelci Adams, both of who scored in double figures for Nation Ford. Moulds had 13 points and Adams had 11 to pace the Falcons to a win. Nation Ford is now 14-7 overall and 3-4 in region play.

Northwestern stayed close with Nation Ford in the first half, but the Falcons used a 14-5 third quarter to take a 10-point lead after the period going up 34-24. Northwestern hit just two shots in the third quarter as the Falcons’ defense caused a handful of turnovers for the Trojans in the period.

Nation Ford continued their hot streak in the fourth quarter opening the period on a 5-0 run to go up 39-24 putting the game out of reach. Northwestern started the fourth quarter with three turnovers which helped the Falcons pull away.

Boys: Northwestern 69, Nation Ford 51

In the boys’ game, poor defense by the Falcons in the second half and a series of events took a close game and put momentum quickly in the corner of Northwestern as the Trojans went on to win 69-51. The Falcons are now 14-7 overall and 4-3 in region play.

In the third quarter, Nation Ford opened the period on a 5-0 run to take the lead 32-30, but then started trading 3-pointers with Northwestern as the two teams hit five in a row on a series of plays.

Northwestern’s Ali Shockley then forced a missed shot by Nation Ford by slapping the backboard on a non-goal tending call. That got Falcons’ head coach Jared Adamson irate to the point where he received a technical. After the dust settled, the Trojans had a six-point swing in their favor and the Falcons never were able to get their groove back.

The Trojans outscored Nation Ford 26-13 in their third quarter and took a 56-40 lead entering the final period. Nation Ford was led by sophomore Zeb Graham, who scored 23 points and junior Eric Moulds added 17 points for the Falcons.

Up next to finish the season this week for Nation Ford is a home game against Dorman in a non-region game before closing out the regular season against rival Fort Mill Friday at home.

This story was originally published February 4, 2017 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Girls win, boys lose; Falcons inch closer to a playoff bid."