Stacked Falcons confident about a playoff run

Nation Ford High’s head boys basketball coach Jared Adamson has a tall task ahead of him.

The Falcons are stacked with talent for the upcoming 2017-’18 basketball season and are ranked seventh in the state in the 5A preseason poll. But Adamson said looking good on paper is one thing. Translating it to the court is another.

“We look good on paper, but we got a lot of work to do,” he said.

Back this year for Nation Ford are juniors Zeb Graham, Khydarius Smith and Malik Bryant, who led the team last year. They are backed by seniors Eric Moulds, Travell Crosby and a healthy Ben Tuipulotu.

Besides four seniors, Nation Ford had nine juniors and two sophomores on their squad. Tuipulotu is back this season after missing last year with a torn ACL.

“We missed him last year from a leadership standpoint,” Adamson said. “He is a glue guy.”

Also added to this year’s squad is Shaman Alston, a 6-4 guard transferred in from Indian Land.

Adamson said practices have been competitive among the team, but there are things they still need to work on.

“We are just trying to get better day to day,” he said. “Guys need to find their spots. Defensively, we have a lot of work to do and we aren’t playing fast enough offensively”

Nation Ford opens the season this week at the Border Battle Thanksgiving Classic at Marvin Ridge High School. The Falcons won’t have their first home game until Dec. 5 against Boiling Springs. Over the Christmas break, Nation Ford will participate in the Farm Bureau Insurance Classic at Dorman High Dec. 28-30.

The Falcons open Region IV play after the Christmas break against Rock Hill Jan. 9th.

On Dec. 23, they will be playing at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte, where the Charlotte Hornets play. The team needs to sell 300 tickets. For more information on the game and purchasing tickets, Falcons’ fans can e-mail Adamson at adamsonj@fortmillschools.org or go to the Fort Mill School District Athletic website at fortmillathletics.com/nafobasketball.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Stacked Falcons confident about a playoff run."