South Pointe slips past Nation Ford

The South Pointe boys’ basketball team handed Nation Ford its sixth loss on the season 67-61 last week.

Nation Ford stayed close with South Pointe for most of the game, but struggled at the free throw line and didn’t hit a 3-pointer the entire game in six tries.

The loss drops the Falcons to 2-6 on the season. Nation Ford was led by seniors Hank Tuipulotu, who scored 18 points, and Will Lawhon, who scored 17 points. Senior Terry Galloway added 11 points, most of which came in the fourth quarter in an effort to rally the Falcons.

Nation Ford struggled in the fourth quarter hitting just three of 11 shot attempts and went 23-33 from the foul line.

“We just didn’t show up mentally focused ready to play,” said Nation Ford head coach Michael Tew. “South Pointe is a good team. We have to make shots.”

Both teams started slow, but South Pointe found a groove and hit four 3-pointers in the game that opened up a 20-9 lead after the first quarter.

Nation Ford battled in the second quarter and outscored South Pointe 18-14, but still trailed 34-27 at the half. The Falcons had their best shooting percentage of the game in the period going 6-for-12 from the field and hit 6-of-9 free throws.

The Falcons closed the gap even more in the second half, but still couldn’t get the lead. Nation Ford pulled within five points at the end of the third quarter to make it 50-45, again outscoring the Stallions, however, Nation Ford again shot 50 percent from the field in the quarter. Both Lawhon and Tuipulotu scored six of their points in the third.

Nation Ford pulled within one point of South Pointe four times in the fourth quarter, but each time the Stallions pulled away. South Pointe stayed at the foul line in the fourth quarter, hitting 11-of-17 foul shots in the period.

Like the Nation Ford girls’ team, the boys’ hit the road for a holiday tournament in Bluffton Dec. 28-30.

This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 12:40 PM with the headline "South Pointe slips past Nation Ford."