Jackets stay hot, rally to beat York, Northwestern

Two rallies equated to two more wins for the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets boys’ basketball team as it improved to 8-1 heading into the holiday break.

Down 12-3 after the first quarter, Fort Mill outscored York 20-14 in the second quarter to claw its way back into the game and eventually pulled out a 58-50 win.

“Our intensity in the first quarter was lacking,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe. “We weren’t into the game to begin with. We picked it up in the second quarter.”

Fort Mill was led by Brandon Joseph’s 13 points and AJ Foti’s 11 points as the Jackets’ shooting got better throughout the game. The Jackets hit just one field goal in the first quarter on 11 shot attempts. The team shot more than 50 percent from the field in the second quarter as both Kawan Walker and Malik Hayman scored five of the nine points they had apiece for the game.

York opened the second half scoring the first three points to go up 29-23, but Fort Mill went on a 7-0 run midway through the quarter to get back in the game. Fort Mill’s Tanner Mitchell had an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 29 and then a 3-pointer by Mitchell put the Jackets up 32-29.

Fort Mill outscored York 17-7 in the third quarter as the Jackets continued to increase its lead with Mitchell scoring six of his seven points in the quarter.

Earlier in the week, Fort Mill had to overcome a pesky Northwestern team to get a 69-67 win. Fort Mill is now 2-0 in Region III-4A play.

Girls lose heartbreaker

The Jackets’ girls’ squad continued to struggle this past week as it dropped a game against York 50-41 and fell to Northwestern in overtime, 41-35.

Against York, Fort Mill had trouble stopping York’s outside shooting as the Cougars’ Natalee Graham hit five 3-pointers.

Fort Mill led at the half by a bucket, but struggled offensively to get anything started in the second half. York opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run and quickly used aggressive rebounding to pull away from the Jackets.

Fort Mill hit just three shots in the third quarter as York outscored the team 16-7. The Jackets played better in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get momentum on its side. Fort Mill was led by freshman Amiah Lindsay, who had 15 points and 10 blocks in the game. Eliza Denmeade added eight for the Jackets as well.

The loss drops Fort Mill to 1-5 on the season and 0-2 in Region III-4A play.

Over the break, both the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams will head to Chesnee High School for the Lowe’s Roundball Classic Dec. 28-30. The boys’ will open against Berea, which is 9-1 on the season, and scored 105 points in its most recent win. The girls’ will open against Oakbrook.

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 10:24 AM with the headline "Jackets stay hot, rally to beat York, Northwestern."