Jackets get third Region win behind Lindsay

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets girls’ team improved to 3-6 in Region III play with a 43-30 win over York, bouncing back from a loss to rival Nation Ford.

The Lady Jackets were led by freshman Amiah Lindsay, who scored 18 points, and junior Meredith Christopher, who added 14 points, in the win.

“That is about as good as we have played all year,” said Fort Mill head coach Brett Childers. “There is an opportunity for us to get back in there.”

The “there” Childers is referring to is the playoff hunt, as Fort Mill starts the second half of its Region III schedule this week with games at Clover and Gaffney.

Fort Mill took a slim 22-19 lead into the half, but was able to outscore York 10-2 in the third quarter to pull away. Christopher led in the fourth quarter, scoring four of her 14 points in the period.

Lindsay took over in the fourth adding seven of her 18 in the final quarter. The Lady Jackets aggressive defense forced York in to nearly 20 turnovers in the game as both Christopher and Lindsay scored all 12 of Fort Mill’s points in the first quarter to open the game.

York opened the second quarter on a 5-1 run to get back in the game, but Fort Mill went to the line often in the quarter to keep some separation between the teams.

Boys ranked No. 4

The Fort Mill boys’ team moved up from ninth to fourth in the state in 4A and had even less trouble against York then their female peers.

Fort Mill won 78-57, bouncing back from losing to Nation Ford, its first Region III loss of the season, earlier in the week. The Jackets opened the game with a 28-3 run through the first quarter.

“That is what we had hoped to do,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe.

“We wanted to get that bad taste out of our mouth. We got a little complacent in the third quarter. We are happy about the ranking, but it’s nothing more than that, a ranking.”

The Jackets were led by their big three in seniors Tanner Mitchell, Brandon Joseph and AJ Foti. Mitchell led with 18 points, while Foti had 15 points and Joseph had 13 points.

In the third, York climbed back into the game for the first time since the opening the quarter on a 12-2 run by hitting four consecutive 3-pointers. That helped to pull them to within 15 points, erasing a 43-18 lead at the half.

Fort Mill started driving more to the basket and was able to reopen that lead and again led by more than 30 with three minutes left in the game.

Fort Mill’s boys travel to Clover and Gaffney this week, and then to Rock Hill the next week, while finishing the regular season at home against Nation Ford hoping to avoid a season series sweep by the Falcons.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Jackets get third Region win behind Lindsay."