Fort Mill runner-up in Lowe’s Roundball Classic

Playing without two of its senior starters and led by mostly freshmen, the Fort Mill Lady Jackets finished second in the girls’ bracket of the Lowe’s Roundball Classic at Chesnee High School during the holiday break.

Fort Mill lost to Region III opponent Gaffney in the finals 39-24, but beat Chapman by 43-26 Oakbrook Prep by 50-33. The Lady Jackets are 3-6 on the season.

“We have taken a lot out of this tournament,” said Fort Mill head coach Brett Childers. “Our freshmen are coming along. I am really proud of (freshman) Annika (Ford) for how she handled the ball.”

Against Gaffney, Fort Mill got into early foul trouble by freshman Amiah Lindsay, who led with 11 points, but fouled out of the game with 2:47 left. Unofficially, Lindsay had nine blocks in the game and just missed her sixth double-double of the year.

Gaffney’s leading scorer Sade Van DeCruise was injured midway through the second quarter, allowing Fort Mill to get back into the game. However, the Lady Jackets struggled shooting the ball and made just four field goals in the second half and none in the fourth quarter.

Against Chapman, Lindsay collected her fifth double-double of the season with 27 points and 13 rebounds to go along with seven blocks and seven steals.

Fort Mill got out to an early lead and consistently fed Lindsay the ball inside to help give the Jackets an early advantage. After a close first quarter, Fort Mill distanced itself from Chapman in the second quarter with a 15-6 run and then held Chapman to just one field goal in the third quarter.

Senior Sharae Redmond added 10 points against Chapman and both Redmond and Lindsay were named to the All-Tournament team for Fort Mill.

In the Jackets’ opening round game against Oakbrook, Redmond and Lindsay combined to score 27 of Fort Mill’s 50 points. Lindsay led with 14 points and Redmond added 13 points to pace Fort Mill.

Again the Jackets got out to a quick start in the first half and shot just under 50 percent from the field in both the first and third quarters.

Like the boys’ team, Fort Mill’s girls will get back into regular season play this week with games against Westwood and Clover at home.

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 10:05 AM with the headline "Fort Mill runner-up in Lowe’s Roundball Classic."