Falcons rally by Fort Mill to finish third in Region IV-5A

Nation Ford freshman Kelci Adams came up big in the fourth quarter as the Nation Ford High School Falcons beat rival Fort Mill 32-27 at home to close the regular season.

Playing for a third place finish in Region IV, both team started slowly and Nation Ford struggled early with turnovers. Despite that, the Falcons took their first lead of the game about three minutes into the game.

Coming off a career high game of 35 points against Northwestern, Fort Mill’s Meredith Christopher was targeted early by the Falcons’ defense as they tried to isolate her to make sure she didn't get a hot hand again.

Fort Mill started cutting off the passing lanes for Nation Ford as the teams struggled to maintain control of the ball throughout the first quarter. Both teams hit just two baskets from the field in the opening quarter, but Nation Ford’s foul shooting was what gave it the slight edge going into the second quarter. Christopher hit a 3-pointer to open the second quarter for Fort Mill and give the Yellow Jackets a small lead. Nation Ford regained the lead soon after as turnovers again proved to be the theme stopping both squads from getting any offensive momentum going.

Fort Mill's Kimber Haley came out with the hot hand for the Jackets and helped to extend their lead. Nation Ford was able to climb back into the game with a 5-0 run before the end of the quarter.

Nation Ford played better in the second half, doubling the number of shots they hit in the first half. They also took advantage of getting to the foul line hitting 11-of-17 from the charity stripe.

Turning point

Adams came up big for the Falcons with less than 90 seconds left hitting two 3-pointers to put them ahead of Fort Mill forcing the Jackets into a time out with 49 seconds left in the game. Adams also hit two free throws in the final minute of the game to put it out of reach for Fort Mill as Nation Ford went to the line nine times in the final quarter hitting seven free-throws.

Critical

Fort Mill ended the second quarter on a 6-0 run to go up 14-9 with the play of Haley leading the way for the Jackets. Fort Mill held Nation Ford to just one score from the field in the second quarter.

Star contributions

Christopher scored 12 points to lead Fort Mill and Haley scored 10 points as well for the Jackets. Nation Ford was led by Adams, who scored 11 points.

On deck

Both teams will be on the road at Dorman and Gaffney for the first round of the 5A state playoffs. Fort Mill will play at Dorman and Nation Ford will go to Gaffney. With the win, Nation Ford finished third in the region and Fort Mill was fourth.

Box score

Nation Ford 32, Fort Mill 27

Fort Mill 4;10;4;9;-;27

Nation Ford 6;3;8;15;-32

Scoring Summary

Fort Mill - Meredith Christopher 12, Kimber Haley 10, Unique Burch 3, Isabella Giarrizzi 2.

Nation Ford - Kelci Adams 11, Courtney Adams 8, Sami Tuipulotu 6, Denaundna Greene 4, Alexis Clement 2, Ellona Moulds 1.

3-pointers: Fort Mill 2 (Christopher), Nation Ford 3 (Adams)

Team fouls: Fort Mill 19, Nation Ford 10

Records

Fort Mill 13-11, 3-5 Region IV-5A; Nation Ford 16-7, 4-4 Region IV-5A.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Falcons rally by Fort Mill to finish third in Region IV-5A."