Both Falcons squads remain undefeated

The Nation Ford Falcons boys’ sqaud played one of its worst games in the early part of the basketball season, but still managed to win by 18 points over Boiling Springs.

The Falcons struggled to rebound and stop Boiling Springs in transition, but outmatched them to get an 85-67 win in their only game last week. A matchup against No. 1 ranked Dorman on the road was canceled last Friday to do inclement weather that came through the Upstate. Nation Ford’s boys are now 5-0 on the season and ranked seventh in the state, but that didn’t stop Boiling Springs from giving them fits.

“Those guys seem to have our number,” said Falcons head coach Jared Adamson. “They run a lot of good offensive sets. We rely on Khy (darius Smith) to block shots and get rebounds, but we need all the guys to rebound.”

Smith didn’t lead Nation Ford in points, but still managed to score 14 while grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking 10 shots for a triple double. Ben Tuipulotu led the Falcons with 22 points, while Eric Moulds added 16 points and Zeb Graham had 15 points in the win.

The Falcons jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Boiling Springs scored and then went up 30-20 after the first quarter. The Bulldogs kept chipping away at Nation Ford throughout the second quarter, but the Falcons made up for a poor shooting quarter by going 10-for-10 from the foul line.

Boiling Springs outscored the Falcons in the third quarter 14-12 and cut their lead to 10 entering the fourth quarter. Graham and Moulds led Nation Ford in the fourth quarter scoring with each of them scoring seven points as the Falcons outscored the Bulldogs 22-14.

Girls: Nation Ford 52, Boiling Springs 28

In their game, Nation Ford’s girls were led by three players – all of whom scored in double figures – including 14 from Sami Tuipulotu. Like their male counterparts, the Falcons also improved to 5-0 on the season.

Kelci Adams had 12 points and Amiah Lindsay added 11 in the win over Boiling Springs. Nation Ford jumped out to a quick start by hitting five of 11 from the field in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Falcons played even better defense by holding the Bulldogs to just five points for a 22-15 halftime lead.

The second half saw fewer shots from the Falcons, but more of an offensive output by them as they hit five of eight shots in the third quarter to open the half on a 6-2 run and maintain control despite having trouble with turnovers.

Starting with an 11-point lead to enter the fourth quarter, Nation Ford outscored Boiling Springs 16-3 with Adams hitting three 3-points as the Falcons went up by 20.

At press time, neither the boys’ nor girls’ games against Dorman had a make-up date. Coming up for the Falcons are games against Gaffney and South Pointe, both of which are home. The boys’ squad will also be participating in the Capital City Jam at Ben Lippen High School Dec. 16 in the Columbia area.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Both Falcons squads remain undefeated."